Too bad it will be mid-winter when you are there! Still, very cool that you will be there discussing this topic for Midwesterners.

I live in the middle of the city, but have a rooftop deck on which I have (pretty successfully) grown tomatoes in the past. Alas, last year we had to tear down the entire deck, which had finally begun to rot from age and extreme weather. It was traumatic to lose our beautiful trees and shrubs in the process. We've been saving up to rebuild this spring, but it will be a while before we will be fully up for gardening again. Urban rooftop gardens pose quite a unique set of issues. Your gardening input in this area would be interesting.

Maybe you'll come back next year, and I'll make the trek up to the Botanical Gardens to get some recommendations!

would be great to have a du get together.