Episode 82: Jenny Howard Owen

Episode 82: Jenny Howard Owen

Author: Hobby Farms July 24, 2024 Duration: 48:12

Flexibility in farming, connecting with the natural world, and the Organic Association of Kentucky with Jenny Howard Owen

In this episode of Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good, listen to Jenny's story of her love of farming rooted in childhood. You might identify with her vivid childhood memories of digging potatoes, setting off with the family dogs through the woods and fields, and living a life outdoors. She talks about being in the Peace Corps in Gabon as her first experience with environmental education and the start to her work in sharing the outdoors with others. During her time in Gabon, she learned about gardening in the tropics and started teaching the concepts of ecology through school gardens.

Hear about how, when Jenny left Kentucky after college, she had no interest in living in her home state again but has since come back to Kentucky and built a farm. Being flexible is the lesson here. Jenny talks about the time she spent as a market farmer when her son was young and how she's transitioned their 8 acres to more of a homesteading space for the time being.

Jenny tells us about her work as a farmer educator with the Organic Association of Kentucky, a nonprofit promoting and supporting organic farmers in the state. An annual conference, regular farmer field days, assistance for farmers transitioning to organic certification, and consumer education are all part of OAK programming. Additionally, the organization hosts the Kentucky Farm Share Coalition, which arranges employer-sponsored CSA programs with local farmers.

Finally, Jenny offers advice for getting started on your own land, sharing what she wished she knew when she and her husband were setting up their farm 10 years ago. And we hear about why this work is important to Jenny.

Diggin It Farm on Facebook

Organic Association of Kentucky website

OAK conference

Kentucky Farm Share Coalition

Research on employee-sponsored organic CSA programs

 


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…