Episode 59: Denà Brummer talks farming, gardening and building a life around food

Episode 59: Denà Brummer talks farming, gardening and building a life around food

Author: Hobby Farms August 9, 2023 Duration: 35:25

Denà Brummer talks farming, gardening and building a life around food in this episode of Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good.

Hear about Denà's journey from reading the recipes in Seventeen magazine to throwing epic house parties that were all about the food to studying culinary arts and growing her own food. And now she teaches others about these things! Hear about her new On The Grow business, centered around educating folks about health, lifestyles and habits related to food, picking up where home economics and gardening classes left off. 

Learn about the Garden of Hope community garden, which Denà manages for the City of Hope cancer center. She talks about the Garden of Hope community education programs,  kid-powered farmers market, Produce for Patients food distribution and the upcoming Farmacy work-trade program.

Denà tells us about the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture nonprofit and its pay-what-you-can networking, international education and fellowship programs. She acts as an Agroecology Fellows Mentor, "breathing life into people's dreams," as she explains it. 

Denà shares her personal philosophy behind producing and sharing food, no matter the scale. Hear also about her teaching in the Fundamentals of Food Communication class at the University of Southern California's Annenburg School of Communication and Journalism.

At the end, Denà shares her favorite food to cook for others. 


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 78: Bonnie Warndahl [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:19
How to find your dream farm, with Bonnie Warndahl! If you are searching for your dream farm, this podcast episode with Bonnie Warndahl has you covered. Bonnie searched for years to find the property that is now her Winno…
Episode 77: Lauren Manning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:20
In this podcast episode, Arkansas rancher Lauren Manning talks about responsible grazing, lessons learned from starting a grazing operation from scratch and financing to support a regenerative food system. Learn how Cros…
Episode 76: Florentina Rodriguez [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:45
Urban farmer and seed advocate Florentina Rodriguez talks seeds, seeds and, you guessed it, seeds. Hear about how Florentina started her Flora Seeds, all thanks to seeing the need for a community seed library in her vill…
Episode 75: Michele Thorne [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:34
From Oregon, Michele Thorne talks with show host Lisa Munniksma about support and resources for livestock farmers and meat consumers from The Good Meat Project, the challenges of farming on rented land, the finding value…
Episode 74: Hillarie Maddox [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:39
Homesteader Hillarie Maddox talks about returning to the land, building community and mental health for farmers. Hear about Hillarie's upbringing visiting her family members' original homesteads in South Dakota and how h…
Episode 73: Kimberly Haire [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:25
Kimberly Haire talks with Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good host Lisa Munniksma about what it's like to teach middle schoolers in Kentucky about growing food while she expands her own farming knowledge. Hear about how K…
Episode 72: Sara Martin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:41
Appalachian farmer Sara Martin asks us to put on our science hats and talks about farming at high elevation, running a truly diverse small farm, redistributing unsold produce and more. Hear about how Sara and her husband…