Blue Moon Organics

Great CSA– my box pick-​up spot is at Bi-​Rite Market in SF and it’s like Christmas every week. Beautiful (and beautifully imperfect in the organic way) and delicious organic fruit and produce from a real small family farm. And yes, strawberries ever so fragrant, sweet, small, and juicy. Start small with some of those strawberries and work your way up to becoming a CSA member.
(Full disclosure, I know the Blue Moon people and have even worked with them on some projects. But, independent of that, they are also the 3^rd CSA I’ve belonged to and my favorite, purely from a produce perspective)

Blue Moon Organics is an extremely appealing place to experience food culture at its most local, fresh, and wholesome. The farm itself is located in Aptos, near Santa Cruz, and offers summer tours, has a CSA option, and hosts special dinners, including a recent stop on the «Outstanding in the Field» tour.
BMO also sells its produce at farmers markets in the area, including the popular Saturday gathering at the College of San Mateo (
). Their small but wonderful stand offers a rotating array of seasonal products, including some outstanding organic strawberries (Chandler variety) The strawberries are the flagship offering of the farm and are also sold in some local groceries (like Draeger’s). While the berries are succulent and sweet, their vegetables are also quite tempting. We add from their stand things like beets, zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and we are looking forward to sampling more from their offerings as the growing season continues. The overall quality is superb!

A wonderful, organic farm where produce is grown with loving care. The strawberries are amazing. I attended a farm dinner there, partnered with nearby winery Bonny Dewn. It was incredible. The two owners of the farm talked in depth about the choices they make to grow the vegetables as naturally as possible to yield the best, most flavorful products. I loved it.

Most of what I know about Blue Moon comes from the Chronicle article
, which appeared on May 3. Blue Moon was listed by John Mackey among local suppliers to Whole Foods in Mackey’s detailed June 26 reply to Michael Pollan’s comments about (= attack on) Whole Foods. The owners, Greg Rawlings and Patrick DeYoung, worked for Swanton Berry Farms and decided to set out on their own.
Their strawberries are fabulous. As I’ve said in recent reviews, Blue Moon Organics strawberries are currently available at the Monterey Market. I’ve tried the different Monterey Market organic strawberries, alternating among them, and finally have come to the opinion that the Blue Moon berries win by a nose. They’re all good, of course; this is a «win-​win» situation, for sure. Still, it’s fun and educational to taste a variety of strawberries and see how they differ.