SEASON 2024 - Back in the Saddle

Many of you have been wondering if Sister Moon Gardens was going to be selling produce this year. Well, the answer is…maybe. I’ve begun planting at the farm again after 2 years of not planting as we rebuilt our life at home after the fire. I finally feel like there is some stability under us and am venturing back to the farm to reestablish my relationship with the land. Mostly, I’m reclaiming it from its feral ways after not being planted out with intention for those years. Left unchecked, land goes back to Mother Nature pretty quickly as opportunistic plants take over.

So, I’ve gotten back in the saddle and am working out the bugs, sometimes literally, in the garden systems. I’m growing for an event in July to get me back into the swing of things and I have a feeling I will have extra food to share with my customer group. I’m asking that if you want to hear about my sporadic produce offerings throughout the season be sure to get on my customer communication email list. If you haven’t received an email from me this season, you aren’t on the list. If you want to be on the list, connect with me at sistermoongardens@gmail.com and request to get on the list.

Depending on quantity available, I may open the Farm Stand on a specific day or I may just connect with folks individually who respond with interest. We’ll see how this season unfolds. In the mean time, it feels good to get my hands in the soil at the farm again. I hope to see some of you soon!

SISTER MOON GARDENS NOT OPENING 2023

Well, Friends, I’ve decided that I won’t be opening the farm again this year.

The 2020 Riverside Wildfire continues to affect our lives even into 2023. We moved into our new home almost a year ago and have spent the last year finishing that building project, finishing Peter’s shop so we could begin working on Marimbas again (and making an income!), and beginning to plant the perimeter of our home so we weren’t living in a mud pit. The Autumn of 2022 was cut short, if you remember, and our project productive season was halted sooner than anticipated. However, we did get the land graded, the beginning of a new driveway, a perimeter lawn seeded, 2 stone patios set, a greenhouse built, a tool/potting shed built, a woodshed built and split wood to fill it for the winter.

This year is all about landscaping, re-planting our forest, building a couple more sheds, getting fences back up around the orchard and home garden, managing the forest we still have, taking down all the fencing that is up in the interior of the land since we don’t have horses here anymore, cleaning up the grassy areas of logging debris so we can mow, replacing a couple of raised beds in the home garden that burned, splitting more wood and finishing a handful of projects on the house. Those are the projects I can think of right now. Of course, there will be more and we have folks to help us finish them.

As you can see, there is still a ton to do just to get back to a baseline of life for us. I need to be home to get these done. I want to be home. I don’t do well with divided energies. I’ll be using this Spring to test out my new potting shed and greenhouse system to begin plant starts at home. Hopefully, I can smooth out the bugs before I’m making starts to take over to the farm next year. I also intend to finally learn how to use my watering system at the farm and master the timer so I can have some relief from all hand watering next year.

Thanks for understanding my situation and, hopefully, I’ll get to see your faces at the farm stand next year. Blessings on 2023!

September Bounty Closes the Farm Stand

As September opens, we at the farm are reminded of the events 1 year ago that chased us from our homes and from the garden for almost a month. The anniversary of the Riverside Fire is here. September 8th marked the day our house was burned and we began a new adventure. Our new house has made a huge milestone…the inside is painted and we have a garage concrete floor! Our exterior doors are being hung as I write. And our flooring, tiling, and cabinet making friends are on the calendar to keep this moving forward. Its humbling and exciting to see the house we designed being born.

Meanwhile, in the garden, tomatoes are ripening, peppers are peaking through deep green leaves in a fiery rainbow of colors, pumpkins are turning their bright orange and the fresh herbs are brilliant green on the farm stand table. Many of my other crops have completed and we have entered the time of massive food preservation to fill our pantry for the winter.

The farm kitchen is hopping! We’ve made salsa fresco for the freezer and canned whole tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato juice. Pesto is up next, as well as pickled sweet peppers, fermented hot pepper sauce and a canned zesty salsa. Then we pull the plums out of the freezer to process into a few sweet recipes including spiced plum jam, plum and jalapeno jam, plum sauce and possibly a chutney. Oh, and green beans! I see Pickled Dilly Beans in our future, too.

I love this time of year. My happy place is in the kitchen surrounded by ingredients from my other happy place, the garden. Because of all of this bliss, we’ve closed the farm stand for the season to focus on food processing. However, we are extending the pre-orders for a bit. So check out the website Farm Fresh page for what’s available in fresh produce, as well as canned or pickled items for sale. Pick up can be on the regular Friday 11 am - 1 pm time slot or another time that is more convenient for you.

Thank you from me and my sister, Karla, for such a great 2021 season!

A Rainbow of Yumminess on the Farm Stand Table This Week!

Gorgeous cherry, slicer tomatoes and more are at the Sister Moon Farm Stand this Friday from 11 am - 1 pm.

This is the bounty we’ve all been waiting for! Late summer deliciousness includes ingredients for eggplant parmesan, silky zucchini soup, the perfect Caprese salad with basil and tomato, tabbouleh with tons of fresh parsley, roasted zucchini boats with fresh marinara, eggplant steaks on the grill, fresh salsa with baby bells & jalapenos & cilantro, and, and, and… Yep, right now the rainbow of options are all yours!

Come and get it from 11 am to 1 pm at the Farm Stand. Check out the Farm Fresh page on the website and make your pre-order today.

Sauerkraut at the Farm Stand!

Yep, the first round of sauerkraut is done! Thank you, Perfect Pickler, for accelerating this process. We’ve got plain and dill in pint jars for $8. Get yours by making a pre-order on the Farm Fresh page of the website or come see us at the stand on the farm from 11 am - 1 pm this Friday. You’ll see scallions available for pre'-order, as well.

We’ve also got eggplants (eggplant parmesan, YUM!) busting out and tomato plants heavy with fruit moving to ripeness and many green jalapenos, serranos, poblanos and baby bell peppers. If you want green peppers, let me know. Otherwise, I like them to ripen fully to red or whatever color they are meant to be at maturity.

I’m happy the season is moving towards all of these fabulous veggies. See you at the Farm Stand!

Spiralized Zucchini Bread and Butter Pickles at the Farm Stand!

Ok, if you didn’t get to taste these last year, I recommend heading over to the Sister Moon Gardens farm stand this Friday from 11 am to 1 pm to get some. I happened upon this recipe in 2020 and it has become my favorite for preserving our extra zucchini.

I use this every where I would use sweet pickles: mixed in tuna salad, on a hot dog or hamburger, as a sandwich topper, chopped in potato salad, etc. Its tangy, sweet, perfectly salty and beautiful with the green and yellow zucchini spirals.

Thank you to my mom, Pat Fuller, and my sister, Karla Rae, for making this pickling process so much more fun and efficient. We were a well oiled machine in that farm kitchen. You two are amazing!

We also put up 11 gallons of sauerkraut!

Both dill and regular kraut are destined for the farm stand table in about 2 weeks to a month. I have some in Perfect Picklers, which makes the process quicker, and I have some in crocks, which take a bit longer. I love it when science and the kitchen collide. It definitely does in a veggie ferment.

See you in the Garden!

Happy July from Sister Moon Gardens

My brother, Bruce, took this picture this weekend. The cosmos are volunteers from a planting I did last year. So lovely! I cleared the bed around them (was spinach) and, now, I’ll plant lettuce or something that I can spot between these beauties. I love volunteers in all forms.

Shade Cloth on the High Tunnel Just in Time

Well, Peter and I got the shade cloth on the high tunnel in the nick of time before this searing heat wave would have made it unbearable inside. What a difference! I’m sold. I’m hoping I don’t have burnt fruits this year like last year. I had some tomato plants that didn’t give me a decent fruit all season because of, I assume, the direct sun and heat.

The high tunnel has eggplants, melons, peppers, tomatoes and some very sad cucumbers. I may have to start over with the cukes, but the rest are doing outstanding. I think they’ll even do better with this new shade cloth.

Can’t wait for all of these beauties to start producing! My belly wants homemade salsa, pickled jalapenos, juicy melons and roasted eggplant babaganoush, just to name a few tasty treats waiting to be created.

See you at the Farm Stand on Friday from 11 am - 1 pm.

Spicy Bok Choi Mix Ferment at the Farm Stand

This week at the farm stand we have our new veggie ferment, Spicy Bok Choi Mix, on the table ready for tasters and purchase. It’s great for a tangy, spicy salad topper, mixed in with veggies and rice, as a side to fish or chicken, or great right out of the jar. We also have the extra juice jarred up for a probiotic shot that is great as a salad dressing ingredient, a marinade for fish or chicken or even a mixer for your next Bloody Mary!

Shelling peas are finally ready and are they sweet! Love that crunchy fresh pea flavor bursting in my mouth. All of the peas are completing so be sure to get yours this week. They may not be around next week.

This is the last week for plant starts. They need to get into the ground soon. Tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, eggplant and melons available from $2-3/3 inch pot. Come to the stand to see the varieties available and get planting instructions if you want.

See you at the Farm Stand on Friday from 11 am - 1 pm. And as always, if this time doesn’t work for you, just let me know and we can make other arrangements.

Blessings on your sunny day!

Plant Starts at the Farm Stand Friday, 11 am - 1 pm

Sister Moon Gardens is finishing up some plantings and has extras. Summer squash, tomato, and pepper plant starts are on the table tomorrow for $2-3 for a 3 inch pot. Delicious varieties like Old German tomato, Yellow Fin Zucchini and Early Jalapeno Peppers are available, and several more. We’ve also got Snap Peas this week and Shelling Peas are next week! Nothing like peas right out of the garden, in my opinion.

The weather and an aphid bloom in the field have slowed down the next round of lettuce and others as well as new bed prep. There may be a hiccup in some of your favorites for a bit. But the SPINACH IS GORGEOUS and will be with us for a bit longer.

And the Kale is sizing up. I just ate a whole bunch in one sitting last Friday! I made kale chips and they went down super easy during a movie I was watching. Before I knew it, I’d eaten the whole batch! Great way to get your nutrient dense super greens. Give it a try!

Sister Moon Snow Peas!

Sister Moon Gardens is open on Friday at the Farm Stand. We have lovely lettuce, kale, arugula, spinach, bok choi, mustard greens and, now, sweet, crunchy snow peas. Maybe even snap peas! All are coming on strong and fast. Check out the “Farm Fresh” page on the website for the complete list of what is available and make a pre-order, if you like. The Farm Stand is open for pre-order pick up and shopping on Friday’s from 11 am to 1 pm. If that doesn’t work for you, just let me know and we can make other arrangements.

I highly recommend getting some of this spinach soon. Who knows how long it well last as the warmer season progresses. Hope to see your shining face at the stand on Friday.

SNOW PEAS!

Farm Stand Open, FRIDAYS, 11 am - 1 pm

Sister Moon Gardens’ Farm Stand 2021 opening day was wonderful! So good to see familiar faces, even with masks on still. I love feeding my friends and neighbors. And now, we have this wonderful farm stand Peter made this year to sell from. Love it! My sister, Karla, will be the shining smile to greet you at the farm stand and I will be back in the Farm Kitchen, filling the sacks, boxes and bags of those who made pre-orders on the Farm Fresh page of the website.

This week, however, Karla has other plans and Peter Bush, my husband, will be that shining smile to greet you at the Farm Stand. He’s fresh from a hip replacement this last week and sticking close to home this month. He said he’d be ready for a change of scenery by Friday and wanted to come play on the farm with me. I would say he’s also hankering to see some of his people, so come on out and make his day!

Come and Get it

Sister Moon Gardens begins the seasonal Farm Stand Friday, May 7th, from 11 am to 1 pm. Take a moment to look at the Farm Fresh page on the website to see what we have available this week and maybe make a pre-order to pick up that day.

We may have some plant starts available, too, if they don’t all go into the ground.

See you in the Garden!

Let Them Eat Arugula!

And bok choi and mustard salad greens and spinach and tat soi and radishes and… Sister Moon Gardens has begun selling Spring’s first greens! Opening day for the Farm Stand will be Friday, May 7th from 11 am - 1 pm. Pre-orders are always a good way to get your veggie desires known and set aside just for you that day for pick up. Otherwise, wander through the garden or feast your eyes on the green beauties in the new Farm Stand next to “Miss Figgy”, the voluptuous fig tree bordering the field.

To pre-order, go to the “Farm Fresh” page on the website and see what’s available. Fill out the pre-order form and show up Friday between 11 am and 1 pm to unload your box at the farm kitchen.

I will also be selling this week by pre-order and appointment. Thursday and Friday, between 11 am and 1 pm at 30 minute intervals. Use the pre-order form to communicate two time slots that work for you and what you would like. I’ll communicate back to confirm your time slot and order.

We are still socially distancing and wearing masks. Please be prepared to do the same.

Looking forward to seeing bright, shiny faces at the Farm Stand!

Here Comes Spring!

Let the games begin! In mid-February, the plant world in our area starts waking up, begins coming out of hibernation and slowly revs up its growth rate. This is the time to start planting indoors and preparing for planting outdoors when the last hard frost date comes. Having the high tunnel means I can get some food in the ground now and get plants started destined for the field outside later in Spring.

The new propagation hut and warming table are pampering my new starts and germination has been good. I call this the keiki hut as a throw back to my island time. Keiki means “baby or child” in Hawaiian. Still dialing in the temperature fluctuations from night to day but, so far, the plants I’m starting have responded well to their new environment. Spinach, lettuce, cabbage, chives, onions, scallions, parsley and bok choi are in soil blocks. Arugula and peas are direct seeded in a raised bed in the high tunnel. And I’m planting more and more every few days. Plus, Peter built me many cedar planting trays and it is a pleasure to make soil blocks in something natural, not black plastic.

Peter finished building the farm stand! We tag teamed the roof and, now, I just need a couple of sunny days in a row to finish the paint job. I think y’all coming to buy produce at the farm are going to enjoy the convenience and tidiness of this new stand. I know I will!

Peter also made me a work table for the high tunnel, 2 tool racks and a portable wash up station for the field. He is one handy help mate and I am so grateful for his contribution to this project and my life. What a gift he is!

The wildfire last September burned our house as well as his shop (he is a professional marimba maker, a musical instrument made of wood). My folks are letting him use their shop as a temporary work and storage place for all the tools he’s needing to buy to replace all he lost. We are still waiting to get the thumbs up from the county to start rebuilding our home. So, I’m taking advantage of his down time by keeping him busy with projects for me! He says he loves making things for me that I immediately use to the fullest. He is definitely making my life easier here on the farm.

Here’s to the start of a beautiful new year and hoping to see y’all soon at the new farm stand. I’ll keep you posted on opening day.

Gift cards for Seeds!

I had an amazing experience this week. I ordered new seeds to replace my collection that burned last year. Most of them I got from Territorial Seed and Johnny’s Seed companies. Why? Cause some of y’all gave me gift certificates and gift cards! It saved me hundreds of dollars!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Much to be hopeful for this Spring. My husband, Peter, has begun building a permanent farm stand to replace my pop-up tent. Now, we’ll have a level floor under and a roof over our precious produce and, hopefully, make the shopping experience for you more comfortable. No more schlepping tables and chairs and such for set up each week. It will all be there already. Yeah!

Next, we will be finishing the new propagation hut we’ve set up in the high tunnel. I have high hopes for fabulous seed germination with this system. When the days are still cold, it will be cozy in this little hoop house inside the big high tunnel. Fingers crossed!

Here’s to more kindness, more pure joy and more blessings in 2021! Cheers!

Garden Bounty in a Jar!

The holidays may be over but I still have some of your favorites available to purchase from the Sister Moon Farm Kitchen. Check out the “Farm Fresh” page to order more of that fig jalapeno jam you have found you can’t live without! Or the Devil’s Own Brew pepper sauce you’ve gotten the guts to try. Or more of the dill sauerkraut you’re just about to finish. I’ve got those and more.

Holiday Sale Continues

Sister Moon Gardens will open the kitchen again this Friday from 11 am to 1 pm to purchase gifts or food for the season. Fig Jalapeno Jam! Hot, Sweet, Tangy Red Sauce! Devil’s Own Brew Pepper Sauce! Succulents! and More.

Check out the “Farm Fresh” page on the website to see what’s still available. Last week was a big success. Pre-order to have the best chance of getting what you want.

See you in the kitchen!

Canned Garden Bounty for Sale!

The 2020 farm season at Sister Moon Gardens ended with a pile of figs, peppers, cabbage and tomatoes. Pure inspiration! Getting into the kitchen helped me deal with some of the grief around losing my plant starts for the fall/winter season in the fire that burned my home and greenhouse.

Now, I get to share these delicious kitchen creations with you!

The Farm Kitchen will be open Friday, December 11th and Friday, December 18th from 11 am to 1 pm on both days. You can pre-order canned goods from the website “Farm Fresh” page or show up on each Friday to browse, sample tasters, and fill your basket with goodies.

We also have potted succulents in re-purposed containers my sister, Karla, has been gathering for the past couple of years. They are priced anywhere from $10-$30.

You will also find Musque de Provence and New England Pie pumpkins for sale per pound. Both are excellent for pumpkin pie making or any recipe asking for winter squash. Good flavor, good texture, good eating!

We continue to practice COVID-19 precautions so please wear a mask when visiting us. We’ll set the kitchen up to accommodate distancing and clean throughout the day. Thanks for your patience.

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING A LOCAL FARMER AND SMALL BUSINESS!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Canned Garden Bounty

SALE! FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11TH AND DECEMBER 18TH, 11 AM - 1 PM

BCS Tractor and Implements for Sale

Autumn is a great time to reflect on the growing season. I make copious notes during this time and I start to reevaluate many things. I’ve been reflecting on my new BCS tractor. I purchased it with such excitement on how it would change my life on the farm. How it would make bed prep easier for me and save a lot of time.

Well, I’ve discovered that I would have to change the way I do farming and bed prep to make this machine really work for me. Therefore, it doesn’t work for me. Its time to make it available to the person it would be perfect for and put it up for sale. The following is the ad I’m putting onto craigslist. You get to see it first.

“This is a great package for a market gardener as it gives you flexibility to work an intimate space with power and precision, from ground breaking to seed bed creation. Check out the BCS America website for specifics on each item.

BCS PowerSafe Model 739 Tractor with recoil start

Quick Hitch for ease of putting on or taking off the implements.

30” Flail Mower (Bladerunner 75) has vertically rotating 'Y' blades that pulverize plant material into a fine pulp that is evenly spread across the mowing width.

32” Power Harrow:

• Helps preserve soil structure by not mixing soil layers and by creating a larger particle size than that produced by the tiller.

• Reduces weed seed germination by not bringing a new generation of seeds to the surface

• Gently levels and compacts the bed with its metal mesh roller. The firmer seedbed provides better seed-to-soil contact (germination) and improves the performance of mechanical seeders.

Rotary Plow (Ground Blaster):

• Break new ground

• Power compost cover crops

• Build raised beds

• Create drainage ditches

• Power hilling

Mowing Sulky to allow you to ride when using the Flail Mower.

Wheel Extension for the use of the Mowing Sulky.

Weight Kit to install on the front of the motor to balance the weight of the Power Harrow.

This tractor with implements was purchased new Spring of 2020. The PowerSafe Model 739 Tractor has just over 10 hours total on it. The rotary plow has about 6 hours. The flail mower has about 2 hours. The Power Harrow has about 3 hours. The Mowing Sulky has not been used. All have been stored in a garage when not in use and cleaned after every use. Only airplane fuel has been used in the tractor.

Selling as a single lot. $10,200 cash or cashier’s check only.

Only serious buyer inquiries, please.”

If this sounds interesting to you or you know someone who might be interested, give me a call at (503)735-5447 or email me at sistermoongardens@gmail.com. Thanks, Lisa Fuller