It’s serendipitous that Angela Moragne’s last name is pronounced “More-rainy.” She depends on the rain to grow the herbs, tomatoes, peppers, onions and more exotic veggies (callaloo anyone?) that she uses to create her fresh, homemade salsas and crispy tortilla chips. The garden, where all of this goodness grows, Angela has affectionately dubbed “That Hood Ranch.” It’s about 20,000 square feet, nestled behind her sprawling home on Milwaukee’s North Side. “My house is a ranch style and it’s in the hood…so that’s where the garden gets its name.” Angela’s been tending to, nourishing, and cultivating this verdant oasis since 2014.  “It helps show people around here that tomatoes don’t grow in stores or on shelves, they grow in gardens. They grow in gardens right down the block from the projects and they can grow anywhere if you put the time and love into it.”

After a decade spent in Atlanta, “I left the day of the O.J. chase,” Angela returned to Milwaukee in 2004 where she saw the need for positive change in the city she’s lived in since she was two-years old. “The place we were staying in at the time had an overgrown, untended garden in the back. No one was using it so I decided to try my luck growing some tomatoes and herbs.” That’s when Angela realized she might have a knack for gardening and maybe this was something she could do to help her city and her community.  “I thought to myself anyone can leave but who is going to stay and make things better? Milwaukee is a great place to get things done. The city is a willing partner. This isn’t like a Chicago. Here, you can go down to City Hall. Knock on a door and talk to your alderman face to face and find common ways to make a difference.”

Angela and her daughter, Stevey Pitts, tried to make a difference in Milwaukee working for ACORN but after the community justice organization disbanded in 2010, mother and daughter were out of a job and looking for a new way to pay the bills. The answer was right there in front of them—selling the pico de gallo salsa which was such a big hit with family and friends. The Riverwest Gardeners Market was the first to catch on to “That Salsa Lady” in 2011. It turned out market-goers couldn’t get enough of it—especially their homemade queso dip. “People would knock on our door at all hours to get it. All hours.”  Now you can find Angela’s salsas, chips, queso and guacamole at Outpost stores, various farmers markets, or even right at your doorstep. “We’ll deliver to your car if you want,” Angela enthusiastically promises, “just give us a call.”

In the future Angela would love to see her salsas and chips in corner stores instead of the mass produced snacks that are sitting on shelves across the city. “We’d love to give the people healthier choices but it’s hard when you’re competing with the Doritos of the world. It can be done and we’d like to make that happen. We’re working to make that happen. You can do well and still do “good” for your community.” Part of her plan to make the city, and especially the North Side, a better place is to create a closed loop system of knowing where your vegetables come from, where the seeds come from, where even your water comes from that grows the vegetables. She wants to get as local as local gets and thinks with the right kind of help it can happen. “Everybody comes to the table over food…and that’s where we can get things done.”