Origin Story
We started in Salt Lake City in 2017 as a community-based publication centering herbalism and women’s empowerment.
In our first publication submissions, we were struck by the stories of people without access to institutional healthcare. Many people spoke of wanting natural, sustainable and affordable remedies. We realized that our communities needed a space to learn about herbalism and healing, so by 2018, we converted a 40-foot bus into an herbal apothecary and started offering herbal workshops. In 2019, we purchased a half-acre of land in West Valley City licensed for agricultural, commercial, and residential use where we began growing our own herbs.
Since our beginnings, we have continued to release our publication on a quarterly basis, but we have expanded our vision as we strive to grow into a cooperative business. With a bus-converted apothecary, farm land, and the support of our community, we are excited to launch our business as a farm-to-bus tea shop and apothecary.
Our vision for this tea-shop-on-wheels is that it will travel across the Salt Lake Valley and beyond to offer healing remedies. As a cooperative, there will also be business opportunities on the farm as it becomes a space for people to attend private sessions, group classes, workshops, and events. With the launch of the Mobile Moon Coop, we will continue selling our publication in addition to teas, tinctures, salves, oils, fresh herbs, and other herbal products. We will also sustain a monthly member program where patrons receive a handmade selection of herbal products on a monthly basis.
As the practitioners of the Mobile Moon Coop, we are working towards a business model that is collaborative. Through a cooperative model, we imagine our products as vital community resources and hope that our land can become a space where other healers and health practitioners can offer their services to a growing community. Ultimately, through the distribution of herbal products and by offering education, we strive to aid communities and ecosystems through education, empowerment, and botanical stewardship.
The Moonstead is an herb farm and community gathering space. We use regenerative practices to cultivate a diverse selection of herbs and foods. We make sure that these lovingly-tended plants make their way into the community via Moonboxes, events, and volunteer work days. We also lease 1/4 acre to Grand Prismatic Seeds, a queer-owned and operated seed producer that focuses on native edible and medicinal plants.
Our garden was designed with embodiment and intention. There are seven trees planted in alignment with the body’s “chakras” – or energy centers; Crown, Third Eye, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Sacral, and Root. Each of these trees is the center of a “keyhole” garden, or beds that minimize path space while still creating access to crops. In each chakra garden, we have planted herbs that balance these key regions of the body. In this way, we are building a resilient ecosystem on the land that we aim to see reflected the resilient ecosystem of our bodies and communities. Given our arid climate and heavy clay soils, we feed the soil with plenty of mulch, compost, and living microbes. We do not use chemical pesticides or fertilizers on site.
In Spring of 2019, The Moonstead was a vacant lot. It was a field of thistles, dandelions, cleavers, and chicory with eight Siberian Elm trees and a rusty set of trampoline springs. We observed the beauty of the site for some time before laying out a plan and diving in. By the Summer Solstice, we were able to host a Farm-to-Table dinner with the bus on-site, live music, and the garden freshly-established. By 2020, we had an agreement to lease the back of the lot to Grand Prismatic. We built a storage shed, a greenhouse nursery, and an outdoor kitchen using mostly upcycled and on-site materials. The Moonstead is a testament to the power of community. Throughout the process, we have stressed the importance of restoration in all processes. When we come together, we are always learning. When we build together, it is a process of empowerment and reclamation of skills. When we dig into the Earth and plant seeds or harvest what has grown, it is a consensual and reciprocal relationship.
The Moonstead
Meet The Team
Rikki Longino
They | Them
Rikki founded the Mobile Moon Co-op in order to foster a diverse community of learning together and co-creating a deeply-rooted culture of regeneration. Rikki has studied Environmental Humanities and Urban Ecology at Whitman College and the University of Utah. They have worked at five non-profits in the Wasatch Valley and currently work at the SLC Public Library as the Garden Coordinator and Seed Librarian. Rikki can be found hands in the dirt, face in a flower, pockets full of seeds, and teeth munching spinach any given day. They are motivated by the way elements of a healthy ecosystem intersect and support one another; by the way that cycles wax and wane and the Mobile Moon Co-op is an expression of their passions and dreams.
Yasi Shaker
They | She
Yasi is an artist, dancer, herbalist, and sociologist. They can’t just choose one project or issue to focus on, so they work on all of them all of the time. They co-produce the Moonboxes, create labels for the products, organize the events and creating content for the social media and of course play and farm on Moonstead. Yasi is also a sociology Ph.D. student at the University of Utah where they study food justice and sovereignty. They have a background in psychology, organic farming, community organizing, food justice strategizing, and facilitating spaces for healing and reclaiming our pleasure and erotic self through dance.
Yasi is always in awe of plants’ wisdom and they love learning about the healing properties of plants and making herbal medicine with friends. They absolutely love being part of this queer and femme-centered cooperative that practices critical love and community-care.
Daley
She | They
Daley is a creator, maker, art-doer, lounger, & casual herbalist with lots to learn. She is blown away and inspired by the community care, medicine/knowledge sharing, & ever-giving and growing energy that the Mobile Moon Co-op has. She has found their groove in product-making and moonbox coordination within the co-op.
Often found tabling at markets, she loves hanging & talking herbs, queerness, and art with curious folks.
Camlyn
She | They
Camlyn was drawn to the Mobile Moon Cooperative following some yearning for earth, space, rest, and community/ancestor connection.
Camlyn’s work experience is in media arts, community engagement, and education. She is a high school teacher, an associate film producer, and a trainer/consultant in equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. She also volunteers on the board of Awakening Valley Sangha and the ACLU of Utah. Camlyn is so excited to support the Mobile Moon Cooperative in their events and community outreach.
Camlyn enjoys dancing, laughing, good food, interviewing people, reading, and mostly spending time with herself and loved ones. Be well. Rest. Enjoy. Love.
Jenny Beaudoin
She | They
Jenny is a dancer, explorer and behind the scenes cheerleader. They currently manage MMC’s finance and accounting records. They have a background in business operations, data science, and alternative measures of success. They are humbled by each moon kin and the gifts they share with the collective.
Jenny is inspired by healing through movement and connection. They can be found at any open farm day, hoeing, harvesting, sweating, or stretching.
Juana
Charlotte
She | Her
Charlotte was the creator of the Moonbox with the aid and support of Rikki. It is now being managed by the Moonkins that still reside in Salt Lake City.
She now has taken over the layout for the Zines with occasional aid of Luca, the original editor of the zines!
Also she is currently the online wizard of the website 🙂
Now living in the south of Chile, Charlotte has fallen in love with the crafting of heirloom quilts and blankets using noble materials and learning to reuse fabric scraps and adding color to her creations using natural dyes.
The values we live by
We will welcome critical feedback because growth is a collective process
We will implement a framework of intersectionality to support individuals who have been the most marginalized by systems of oppression
We operate through mutual aid rather than charity and aim to enhance, rather than replace pre-existing community systems
We will work with and learn from the land, plants, and fungi in order to make possible a healthier, more fulfilled way of life for everyone
We will recognize and respect indigeneity by engaging with decolonizing practices such as acknowledging historic and present day injustices (forced removal, genocide, displacement) on First Nation peoples and emphasizing harmonious land relations
Collaborators
Become a Member
No matter which category you select, your role as a part of this network of life creates a reciprocal balance of efforts and inputs. The tallest trees cannot survive without the smallest microbes and soil particles making a nurturing foundation.
Canopy Tier
The Sustainers of the Mobile Moon Co-op. The tops of the trees get the most light and foster life for the future. As a sustainer of the collective you are in a position to let your resources flow through the whole forest ecosystem.
$200+
- 1 Limited Edition Moonbox: 4 unique handcrafted products delivered once
- Your name or organization will get a shout out on our website, social media and newsletter (if desired)
- Partner in other creative ways like a product giveaway
- Ongoing Soil & Mycelium tier
Get IN TOUCH
Would you like to join the newsletter? Have you curiosities or would like to collaborate? Have any questions about memberships? Feel free to write us a message!