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First of all, Happy New Moon. 28 phases have waned and waxed and yet again we find ourselves with a dark moon somewhere suspended, invisible above us. This moon is known as the “Cold Moon” and it came with the snow this year in so called Salt Lake City. We layered thousands and thousands of leaves out over the garden as mulch before the snow- tucking the garlic cloves, Japanese walking onions, pomegranate tree, witch hazel, lavender and more in for the long winter. We are so thankful for the opportunity to grow with every day that emerges.
Announcements Moonbox! We are launching our own monthly herba CSH (Community Supported Herbalism) project! These little boxes will be filled with love and medicine from the Mobile Moon. Every month we will compile some of our favorite seasonal herbal products, homemade with love and attention by Rikki and Charlotte (see her work here) This Month’s Moonbox will contain a red raspberry oxymel (honey vinegar digestive and balancing infusion), an uplifting tincture (combination of herbal and fungal allies for processing sadness), a local apple spice tea blend, an ethically wildcrafted wreath, an botanical postcard, and handmade wrapping paper. We can only supply 30 boxes with our supplies on hand, so order soon! Boxes will be delivered or mailed on December 18th, half moon. Giving Tuesday Bake Sale! In collaboration with The MMC, The Utah Permaculture Collective Bake Sale and Craft Market is a community fundraiser to support our Permablitz Service Project program. Every $600 raised will turn a lawn into a permaculture garden for a community member in need! This is a free event and everyone is welcome to join for delectable and nutritious baked goods and handmade crafts to benefit the community. Zine Release! On December 18th, we will roll out our finished Moonboxes and grand 11th zine! The location is yet to be determine. We will be accepting submissions for the zine up until December 3rd. Here’s to female and queer expression! Moonstead! Grand Prismatic Seed will be joining the Moonstead for the next growing season! James and Guy are outstanding queer seed farmers and community members. They will be overhauling 1/4 acre of The Moonstead and growing out local hardy seed crops next to us. Check out their gorgeous seeds and products. To be honest, I get cold as the cold moon above us when I think about the origins of “Thanksgiving”. When the pilgrims came to the North American land mass, they were offered sustenance from the land and the indigenous peoples here. What followed was the massacre of native people and their culture in all the forms imaginable. Modern day bounteous Thanksgiving food is much more accessible to people living off of the 310 native reservations that exist in this country, as is healthcare, clean water, housing, arable land, and more. Furthermore, modern Thanksgiving follows a clearly sexist narrative: men watch football while women cook the meal. This Thanksgiving, I hope that we can collectively step back, re-evaluate this picture, and reimagine what gratitude really looks like; what love really looks like; what sharing really looks like.
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 Hello friends, family, and strangers of the Mobile Moon! It’s that time again. The Equinox is the official start of Spring and an acknowledgment of light falling on all parts of the earth equally. No matter where you are, this day indicates the dynamic of equal light everywhere. Isn’t that what intersectional justice looks like? Let’s hear it for the Solar System! And as usual, we use this global shift as a time to release the collective energies of the past season and welcome the next. Winter Solstice Zine Release Our last zine release was paired with a fundraiser for Queer and Trans migrants in Tijuana. We raised $1,700 from the community in Salt Lake City and channeled it directly to individuals in need on the border with Mexico. Artists, cooks, musicians, and tarot readers came together in the mid-winter cold in solidarity and support of migrant justice. This effort was a small drop in a massive bucket, but we know that each drop makes many ripples and ripples carry messages of resounding hope throughout the whole bucket. Winter in Moab In January to February, I left the bus hibernating in Salt Lake City to spend time in the deep, red rock desert of the Colorado Plateau. Moab is home to some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. The Moonflower Co-op is a local food and culture hub there. They provided space and resources to supply the community with three workshops provided by MMC. We also offered two all-community tea ceremonies to sit together in silence and share tea. In late February, there was a planning retreat for the organizers of Moab Pride. We came together and planted seeds for the last weekend in September. Pride in Moab is much more than a party. Built on the pillars of support for queer Arts, Youth Education, and Celebration, it brings people together from all walks of life to bring a vital sense of vitality to the LGBTQIA+ community. Moving the Bus to Poplar Grove The bus has a new home! With the change in season came a change in location. Upon returning from Moab, we moved the bus to the house of Ms. Jojo Bluemel, who is excited about hosting the Mobile Moon Co-op for the Spring, Summer and beyond! Seed Library The Main Library in downtown SLC opened a new Seed Library thanks to long-time member of the Mobile Moon, Emma Wilson. Emma coordinates the library garden and is also a talented drag performer and community organizer. They spent countless hours gathering and cataloguing seeds and on March 9th, we presented the film Seed: The Untold Story in the large library auditorium and opened up the new Seed Library for the general public. Seeds are the foundation of life and diversity on this planet. As corporations like Monsanto continue to grow and patent seeds that are modified out of the people’s control, it becomes altogether more important to create community infrastructure and food security. The bus has a collection of about 80 varieties of seeds. The library has over 300 and growing fast. At this Equinox cruz, we find ourselves peeking inquisitively into the promise of Springtime. Which seeds will we plant, water, and fertilize? Which ones will grow and thrive in this new climate? Which ones will be lost and mourned? Workshops at Glendale Library The coming season is already starting to bud with promise. The closest neighborhood branch of the public library system in SLC has asked the Mobile Moon Co-op to do a three part workshop series for the public in May and June. We will offer the same series that we offered in the Winter; same curriculum with new spice! A Peek Beyond Solstice: Biking Tarot Tour to New Moon Mycology Summit The New Moon Mycology Summit is organized through The Mycelium Underground Collective. Last year the MMC presented a tea ceremony and hosted a pop-up tea tent throughout the course of the Summit. It was a transformative experience to say the least! This year, we have been invited to participate more intimately in the process of organizing, so we plan to be in upstate New York by the end of August.   The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. The lavender fingers are growing long and feathery. The cherries are dripping off the branches. The sweat builds up in creases and crevices, making collection sites for dirt, dust, and other particulates, almost ready to host a micro garden on the body. And we are, after all, just gardens. Gardens of microbes, gardens of emotional growth and decay; stasis and dynamism. Gardens of plentiful ancestral knowledge, whose roots wander and plunge into the darkness and whose foliage seeks the light. The Light! Solstice is a time to celebrate and invite the light of day into our lives. It also makes us realize the importance of the dark. The heat of the high desert dissipates with the sunset and the cool of the night, though brief, is deeply reassuring.
The Mobile Moon bus is tucked into a friend’s driveway by the Jordan River Canal. The view out the windshield points towards the Wasatch Cohousing common house. The back window looks over the water to the industrial district of West Salt Lake City. A Siberian Elm tree overhead strokes the roof when the wind blows and when it rains sweet relief on the dry city the sound is like applause. I like to imagine that the rain applauds all the seedlings and nodes of mycelium so that even the shy ones can puncture the soil crust without fear. Since the last update, the bus has a new dutch door (see photos), dynamic custom shelving, hot water kettles, and a cozy assortment of mugs. Mugs to hold teas of all different flavors and energies... Tea creates space for medicine and melancholy and amazement. We are trying to hold a busful of ideas in order to remember them later. We are constantly learning how to do this, making mistakes, and adapting. We continue to build out this chariot of botanical bounty and hope that it will make positive changes. Active, diverse communities make life persist more beautifully. The punitive immigration policies recently put in place are a sickening juxtaposition to the freedoms that Summertime should facilitate. Children should spend their Summers learning the plants in the forest and building treehouses, not behind bars. The Mobile Moon Co-op does not endorse separating families at the border. Period. For the past 6 months, Mobi, the bus has been stationed at a house filled with activity and helpful building resources. NOIZ House has been a platform for the bus to rest during the long Winter months. We are preparing this bus to be a mobile community apothecary and infoshop, created to heal and elevate marginalized voices. We have been engaged in a profound process of diving in, making mistakes, and learning an enormous amount about what it means to act on a dream.
The Mobile Moon Co-op is partitioned into two sections now. We’ve separated the back of the bus into a room for quiet, reflective space. The original seats, heaters, walls, and insulation were removed and replaced with new sound-proof, water-tight insulation and wood walls. Windows were covered with insulation or curtained with hand-sewn red shag. An electrical system was installed to provide energy for lights, heat, and tea. The front of the bus will provide a public space for gatherings, classes, open tea shops, etc. There is a propane stove and a bench overhead storage and plenty of natural light. To create from a space of inspiration rather than obligation is essential. Time is a river. It grows shallow, then deep, then rapid, then stagnant. The conception of the Mobile Moon Co-op took place long ago. Its manifestation is going to take time, fearlessness, and resistance as well as flexibility and fluidity. As of now, the apothecary feels rudimentary. Some cloth bags of raspberry leaves, lavender, and hyssop; a few boxes of hops, yarrow, and tulsi tincture; a collection of empty jars and droppers for future projects… As for the library, so far consists of a boxful of printed zines and about ten books of botanical medicine, cultivation, and philosophy. But for now, it is enough. It is growing. It is intentionally slow and methodical. On March 1st, we moved out of the bus and into a room at the house while the bus moved about 3 blocks away from NOIZ to another more legal property. It was a full moon. 20 people came to welcome the bus to its new home, drink tea, warm the space, and invite mobility, growth, and action. Mobi is ready to host more, to expand, and to offer. But it still needs work, love, and contribution! The Mobile Moon Co-op still has needs before it can be the botanical classroom of dreams. We will be starting to have public sessions to build out the space and blossom this Spring. Your input, your critique, your validation, and your contribution are all welcome. FB: @mobilemooncoop IG: @mobilemooncoop Free/Donation-based Workshops:
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