Episode 49: Angela Kingsawan talks gardening, health care and all things herbs!

Episode 49: Angela Kingsawan talks gardening, health care and all things herbs!

Author: Hobby Farms March 8, 2023 Duration: 28:44

Indigenous urban farmer and herbalist Angela Kingsawan talks about gardening in Milwaukee, translating ancient knowledge into modern reality, connecting health care with healthy foods, and more.

Learn about Angela's early introduction to land stewardship and multicultural approach to herbalism and food production. She tells us about her long-term plan for Yenepa Herbals as a local tea company using vacant lots around her house. Also hear about all of the plants—wild and cultivated—that thrive in Milwaukee's zone 5 growing climate.

Hear about Angela's work as artist in residence at Lynden Sculpture Garden and her plant walks and education programs. Angela offers some tips for how to use the plants she finds on those walks, following her belief that a plant "is only invasive if you don't know what to do with it." She talks about her line of wearable art using natural dyeing and fabrics. You will want to hear Angela's funny story about how she grew saffron kind of by accident!

Get excited about the work that Angela is doing with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to contract Hmong farmers to grow culturally significant produce for their clients who use Medicaid for their healthcare. Listen until the end to hear what Angela is most excited about related to food and farming in her area.


At the heart of Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good are the conversations that happen over a fence line or at a farmers market, translated into audio. This podcast lives in the space where a personal passion meets practical purpose, featuring the voices of those who cultivate small plots, raise a few animals, or run a sustainable micro-farm. Host Lisa Munniksma doesn’t just interview her guests; she gets into the dirt with them, uncovering the personal journeys that led to a life rooted in the land. You’ll hear how a simple hobby evolved into a thriving side business, how families connect through daily chores, and how these growers are building resilience within their local communities far beyond the harvest. The discussions are grounded in real experience, tackling the challenges of soil health, animal husbandry, and market creativity alongside the profound satisfactions of self-reliance and stewardship. It’s a series for anyone who has ever felt the pull to grow something, whether that’s a backyard tomato plant or a fledgling farmstead business, offering relatable stories and tangible insights from people who are actually doing the work. Tune in for honest talk about the failures, the triumphs, and the quiet motivations that keep this community planting seeds season after season.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 88

Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good
Podcast Episodes
Episode 7: Monica Clark [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:40
Hear from Dig This! radio show host and book author Monica Clark about her work to dispel the myths surrounding food access. Monica speaks honestly about her experience of job loss and homelessness in Seattle and how gro…
Episode 6: Amy Dawson and Mike Costello [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:01
Listen in as farmer-chef-storytellers Amy Dawson and Mike Costello talk with host Lisa Munniksma about using food and farming to reverse the narratives we've all learned about stereotypes of Appalachia. Hear about Amy's…
Episode 5: Kenya Abraham [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:20
Show host Lisa Munniksma talks with SLAK Market Farm's Kenya Abraham, who just happens to be Lisa's raw milk herdshare owner in Lexington, Kentucky. Listen in to hear about the journey that took Kenya from urban entrepre…
Episode 4: Olga Tzogas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:04
Show host Lisa Munniksma talks with Olga Tzogas, a forager, mushroom grower and educator in Rochester, New York. Olga's Smugtown Mushrooms has provided mushroom-cultivation supplies and education since 2014. Hear about t…
Episode 3: Maria Elena Rodriguez [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:31
Lisa Munniksma sits down with Maria Elena Rodriguez of Puerto Rico's Cosecha Caribe to talk about growing food in Puerto Rico, her craft Caribbean-inspired artisanal food products, and the community-based food work she d…
Episode 2: Jessica Walliser [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:06
Lisa Munniksma sits down with horticulturalist Jessica Walliser to talk about growing plants, appreciating bugs, writing (and editing) about gardening and more. As a writer, editor and co-founder of Savvy Gardening, Wall…
Episode 1: Angela Wartes-Kahl [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:37
In our premiere episode of Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good, host Lisa Munniksma sits down for a chat with Angela Wartes-Kahl of Oregon's Common Treasury Farm. As the co-founder of Fibrevolution, Wartes-Kahl has plenty…