Many cool season vegetables actually grow better when the ground is warm rather than in the spring when it’s still cool. These vegetables mature as temperatures cool, giving you a good crop before the first frost. True, they may need a little extra care, but it’s well worth it!  

Before we get to the veggies, there are a few things to keep in mind when late summer planting:

• Seeds need to be kept moist consistently till germination. 
• Use mulch to cool down hot soil. 
• Try to sow seeds on cloudy days or even in the evening. 
• Try to find a shady spot or use a shade cover for lettuce and spinach. 
• Some cool season veggies don’t germinate well in hot soil, so you can start them in pots and transfer later. 

Now, here are my recommendations for yummy fall crops:

Carrots. Look for quick-growing dwarf varieties that will mature in around two months. They are cold, hardy and actually taste sweeter after the first frost. 

Kale. Similar to carrots, kale comes in so many fun varieties for eating and decoration. They will also survive well into winter. 

Radishes. These grow super fast and some can be harvested in as little as 3 weeks! Don’t forget radish leaves are edible too and go great in a salad. 

Lettuce and spinach. Two more fast growing crops, but there’s a catch: they need a lot of protection from the hot afternoon sun. They both have shallow roots so grow well in pots that can stay in the shade or be moved around to get nice morning light. Baby leaves are ready usually in 3 to 4 weeks. 

Cilantro and parsley. Also fast growers, these fragrant crops will give a good harvest before frost.

So plant now, keep the seedlings and plants consistently moist, protect them from afternoon sun and enjoy fresh vegetables long after the tomatoes and peppers are done!

Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago

The countdown to the start of a new school year has begun but that doesn’t mean summer is over yet!  Not this weekend, anyway!

It’s that time of year again to sound the clarion call for “Back to School” in celebration of Chicago’s youth with the 97^th edition of the Bud Billiken Parade this Saturday (10 a.m.-4 p.m.).  Beginning in the Bronzeville neighborhood at 39^th Street and Martin Luther King Drive attendees can enjoy colorful floats, marching bands, and talented dance and drill teams as this two-mile route heads south to 51^st Street and into Washington Park (5200 S. Hyde Park Blvd.) in the Hyde Park neighborhood where the celebration continues with the It Takes A Village Festival.  This festival is packed with Sponsor & Vendor Activations from unique crafts to delicious food; Festival Performances by local artists and the Performing Arts League; a Job Employment Fair as well as on-site College Admissions; Free School Supplies; and much more.  It’s always an unforgettable experience for those who attend!

One of the largest street festivals in the Midwest takes place this Saturday and Sunday (11 a.m.-10 p.m.) on Halsted Street from Belmont Avenue to Addison Street in the Northalsted/Lakeview neighborhood with the 44^th annual Northalsted Market Days®.  It’s a 1/2-mile-long celebration of 250+ vendors with one-of-a-kind finds, food and drink, dance exhibitions, drag performances, all-day lineups of high-energy live music and DJs on 5 stages, and more.  You won’t be disappointed as this event is ranked as one of Chicago’s top 10 summer festivals!

Another highly popular event takes place this Saturday (11 a.m.-8 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.-4 p.m.) with the 71^st annual Ginza Holiday Festival hosted by the Midwest Buddhist Temple and held in their parking lot at 435 West Menomonee Street in the Old Town neighborhood.  Witness exciting performances on their main stage by Minyo dancers, Taiko drumming, martial arts demonstrations, and other groups; enjoy their famous and delicious grilled Chicken Teriyaki, Udon noodles, fresh Corn on the Cob and other menu items; browse the works of many craft artisans displaying their handmade crafts; and tour the Midwest Buddhist Temple’s chapel as you enjoy brief talks about Shin Buddhism.  It’s been known that one can easily spend the whole day at Ginza!

Experience an unforgettable culinary journey at the Jarvis Square Pierogi Fiesta this Saturday (1 p.m.-10 p.m.) located at 1500-1508 West Jarvis Avenue in the Rogers Park neighborhood.  This one-of-a-kind Chicago food festival will be serving up mountains of pierogi from traditional potato and cheese to adventurous, modern culinary twists; enjoy a perfect refreshing pairing of their signature Pierogi Margaria with your delicious, savory dumplings; shop for unique goods and crafts from local vendors; participate in the legendary pierogi toss; and more.  This Pierogi Fiesta offers the perfect blend of Eastern European heritage and local Chicago charm for a delicious, good time celebration!

Take an insider’s peek into Chicago’s Gateway to The West Loop Food Tour this Sunday (1 p.m.-4 p.m.) beginning at Formento’s (925 W. Randolph St.).  Not only will you taste dishes from James Beard Award-winning chefs and sip the region’s best celebrated craft brews, but you will also hear the stories behind the West Loop’s architecture, history, and official landmarks.  It’s your ticket to finding the neighborhood’s best hidden gems so you can impress your family and friends when you bring them along!

Sue Moss and Dean’s Team Chicago

The 400 Theater, 6740 N. Sheridan Road, has survived World War 1, the Jazz Age, the Great Depression, World War 2, urbanization, gentrification, two pandemics, and several generations of Loyola University college students. The ever-changing, culturally and economically diverse, eclectic neighborhood that is Rogers Park has continued to evolve around the theater. But the need for entertainment and community is the constant across the decades.

Now, after three years of closure, like Phoenix, the 400 is rising again. The 114-year-old theater, under new management, opened last week to serve a new generation of theater goers. 

History 

As a recent Chicago Reader article stated,  since it first opened in 1912 as the Regent Vaudeville House, the theater has changed hands several times, operating as a movie theater under the names the 400, the 400 Twin, the Village North, the Visionary, and, finally, the New 400. It’s also had quite a colorful history of managers and operators. 

“The 400 Theater was originally called the Regent Theater when it opened in 1913,” Dona Vitale told WTTW three years ago. “And when it opened, it showed all the first-run silent films including ‘The Perils of Pauline.’” It had one screen and could seat 725 people, according to the Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal. 

The Regent Theater was one of its earliest movie houses and originally sat about 725 in its auditorium. It was equipped with a Kimball 2 manual 4 ranks organ. 

Early on, the name was changed to the Village North Theater.

In 1930,  Essaness Theaters Corp. took over the theater and it was renamed the 400 Theater, according to CinemaTreasures, reopening with Bebe Daniels’ “Dixiana” and organist Mildred Fitzpatrick at the console of the ‘Grande Organ’.  It was renamed again to the “400 Theater.”

Why  ‘The 400?’  According to the Illinois Digital Research Library, at the time, “The Four Hundred” was a popular term for the top four hundred people in Chicago’s high society. Keeping the name for over 65 years, the theater changed with the times, even splitting the auditorium into multiple screens, calling itself the “400 Twin.”

During this time, one of the owners, the infamous Ron Rooding, was issued a restraining order by Warner Brothers in 1989 for an attempted skydiving stunt advertising “Batman,”  a film the then 400 Twin wasn’t even showing!

In 1995, the 400 divided into four small auditoriums, three seating about 200, one only about 150. It was purchased by the owners of the Village Theater in the Old Town neighborhood and modernized, and given the name of the Village North Theater. During the pandemic, according to Block Club Chicago, it pivoted to stay afloat by offering private theater rentals, selling concessions on its patio and by operating as a coronavirus testing center.

Tony Fox of Evanston’s ADF Capital, the building’s owner and last operator,  shuttered the theater in 2023 for renovations, leaving the far north side without a cinema. The nearest option, according to the Reader, was the AMC Evanston 12. 

Today 

CinemaTreasures.com reported that the 400 had been leased by Jordan Stancil, an operator of several vintage movie theaters in Michigan, in December 2025. They re-opened as the 400 Theater on July 31, 2026. Current offerings include:

“Spider-Man: Brand New Day:” is showing daily at 12:00 PM, 3:15 PM, 6:30 PM, and 9:45 PM.

“I Want Your Sex:” is showing daily at 2:00 PM, 4:30 PM, 7:00 PM, and 9:30 PM.

On Friday, August 7:

They show the classic ‘Sunset Boulevard’ at 2:00PM, as well as ‘The Odyssey’ at 12:30PM, 4:15PM and 8:00PM, and ‘In the Mouth of Madness’ at  4:45PM. The theater is cashless. For tickets and information, click here. 

Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago

Put down the phone. They make your mind too active. The brain takes a while to get ready to turn off and go to sleep. Giving yourself some screen free time during the day is good overall. 

Try the military sleep method. This claims to get you to sleep in a few minutes. You lay on your back and consciously think about relaxing each part of your body starting at your forehead and going all the way down to your toes. Focus on slow deep breaths and imagine being in a calming environment. Breathe deeply but smoothly. Use slow exhalation. This slows your heart rate and induces relaxation. 

Make sure your bedroom is a calming space. The ideal temperature is 65 degrees. Lowering your body temp triggers a process that initiates sleep. Bed is for sleeping only. No TVs or devices.  

Keep a sleep schedule. Wake up and go to sleep at the same times every day, even on your days off. This keeps a normal rhythm to your internal clock. Keeping to a schedule will have your body getting into sleep mode by itself. 

Try visualizing a relaxing setting. Think about the sounds and smells associated with your happy place. Is the sun and sounds of the ocean? Or maybe it’s birds singing and the feel of the breeze in a forest. 

Stay away from sleep trackers. They put pressure on you to attain perfect sleep and raise anxiety. This concern with improving sleep can make your inability to fall asleep even worse. 

Be careful what you eat before bed. You don’t want to be hungry, but it’s best not to eat less than two hours before sleep. Stay away also from foods that cause acid reflux like spicy food. Caffeine and alcohol can also keep you awake. Everyone is different, so there’s no set time to stop but some studies have found caffeine within six hours of bedtime can deduct an hour from your sleep. 

Shower at night. You need to time it right though. Give your body enough time to cool down after your bath or shower before tucking in. It will relax and calm you and lead to a better night’s sleep. 

Start winding down well before you get in the bed. Don’t make yourself anxious if you can’t go right to sleep. Just relaxing with your eyes closed turns off some of your brain’s neurons, just like sleep does. Essentially: if you give your brain a break, it’ll be better primed for sleep!

 Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago

We all need more vitamins, minerals and fiber in our diets no matter what our age. But as we get older, we may need more. This can be hard for some of us as we naturally don’t have the appetite we once had. Here are some essentials to make sure you’re taking in daily:

Calcium is most important. As you age you start to lose more of this mineral than you absorb. Calcium supports bone health and also muscles, nerves, cells and blood vessels. Women over 50 and men over 70 need 20% more than a younger adult. 

Vitamin D is also necessary to absorb calcium. Sunlight is a good source but as you age your body is less able to convert the sun’s rays, so consider edible sources like salmon, eggs or a supplement. 

B vitamins are essential for our aging bodies and brains. High B6 levels in seniors have been linked to better memory. Fortified breakfast cereal is a good source. B12 helps make nerves and blood cells. Many people over 50 have atrophic gastritis which makes it harder to absorb B12 from food. Antacids and some medications can also contribute to lack of B12. Supplements may be necessary. 

Magnesium is another nutrient older persons may be deficient in. It helps make protein and bone, and it keeps blood sugar stable. Many medications along with long-term health conditions may leave you short of magnesium. Seeds, nuts, and leafy greens are good sources. 

Probiotics are friendly bacteria that can keep your gut healthy and help with diarrhea and IBS. Good food sources are fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut and kimchi but supplements may be necessary. Consult your physician, especially if you have a weakened immune system. 

Omega-3s are called essential because your body can’t make them. They are especially important for your eyes and brain health. They may protect against age-related disease like macular degeneration, arthritis and even Alzheimer’s. its best to get it through fatty fish, canola oil, walnuts and flaxseeds.

Zinc is an underappreciated macronutrient. It fights infections and inflammation and helps your sense of smell and taste. Oysters are the best source, but fortified breakfast cereal is another good choice for zinc.

Selenium keeps your thyroid healthy along with protecting cells from damage and infection. It keeps muscles strong and may help prevent certain cancers and dementia. One or two Brazil nuts a day is sufficient. Too much can turn your nails brittle and can cause hair loss. 

Potassium affects almost everything in your body, including your muscles, nerves, kidneys and heart. Most Americans don’t get enough. Good sources are bananas, spinach, dried apricots, milk and yogurt. Consult your doctor before taking supplements as they can interfere with certain medications. 

Fiber is even more important as we age. It can protect against strokes as well as lowering your cholesterol and blood sugar. In addition to keeping you regular. Women over 50 need at least 21 grams and men 30. That’s like 6-8 whole grain servings or 8-10 servings of vegetables. 

Although it’s best to get these nutrients from foods, talk to your doctor about supplements that will work with the medications you’re on. 

Kathleen Weaver-Zech and Dean’s Team Chicago