Blue Moon Acres – here and there

There is a gem in Buckingham. You’ve probably passed it many times, whizzing by on 413 on your way to somewhere. Maybe you can be forgiven for missing the small sign, which states that Blue Moon Acres Farm is open Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 am to 4 pm. There they grow exquisite microgreens – all types of greens and herbs, harvested when they are young for their intense flavor. In fact, most of Blue Moon Acres’ business has been wholesale for the last twenty years. They may not be known to the average Bucks County resident but fine chefs up and down the East Coast know their product well.

That’s all about to change. Jim and Kathy Lyons, owners and farmers, bought 63 acres of preserved farmland in Pennington, NJ over four years ago with the aim of producing more “everyday” vegetables, for their restaurant customers but also, in a shift, for the local consumer. Blue Moon Acres began as a community-supported agriculture farm, explains Kathy. As much as they appreciate their wholesale customers, “we’ve always wanted to have a stronger connection to the community,” says Kathy. And that will happen with a new market now open on the Pennington farm, selling Blue Moon Acres vegetables but also product from a wide array of local producers.

It’s been a multi-year project to rebuild the soil on the Pennington land, planting cover crops, and adding nitrogen and compost to create the rich soil that vegetables like. Everything grown on the farm will be certified organic too, by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. You can look forward to carrots, beets, onions, baby bok choi, sweet corn, cauliflower, broccoli, baby lettuce heads and more. The market also carries cheese from nearby Cherry Grove Farm, organic grass-fed meats from Tullamore Farm and Simply Grazin’, ice cream from oWowCow Creamery and the Bent Spoon, fruit from Solebury Orchards, poultry, sausage and pot pies from Griggstown Farm, local chocolates, Wash Tyme soap, lavender products from Peace Valley Farm, and their own eggs from pastured hens.

But it’s not only the produce that’s getting the sustainable treatment. The market building is geothermally heated and cooled. “We’re trying to be good stewards of the land,” explains Jim Lyons, “and we also wanted to reduce our carbon footprint.”

The Pennington market has store hours on Thursdays and Fridays (10 am – 7 pm), Saturdays (10 am – 6 pm) and Sundays (12 – 5 pm). The market and farm is at 11 Willow Creek Drive in Pennington, off of Titusville Road and Route 31.

Join them for a grand opening party on Saturday, August 4th from 12 – 4 pm.

Photos courtesy of Blue Moon Acres

This article was originally published in Bucks Life Magazine.