Producer
Fat Moon Farm, CERT ORGANIC
Address: 41 West Street Westward, MA, 01886
About Us
Fat Moon Farm’s organic mushrooms are known for their freshness, flavor, nutrition and beauty. We offer quality and varieties you can’t easily find in the grocery store. Farmer and owner Elizabeth Almeida didn’t start out as a mushroom grower. In 2011, she leased land in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley and launched a vegetable CSA. “I loved being able to feed people, the physical work, being my own boss, having flexible hours so I could care for my two children, solving the diverse problems that come up, and playing a role in the local food movement,” Elizabeth says. “But when I tried to buy farm land so I could scale up, the cost was prohibitive.” Elizabeth was faced with the biggest challenge of her career: Finding a crop that she could grow that didn’t require sunlight or a lot of land.
While trying to figure this out, Elizabeth bought her son a grow-your-own mushroom kit from Wegmans because he was crazy about mushrooms. She looked at the kit and it hit her: “Aha! Mushrooms!”
The funny thing was, she grew up on a farm where they foraged for morel mushrooms, but it’d never occurred to her that she could produce them as a crop.
Elizabeth gave herself a crash course in mushroom growing and began commercial production in 2016. I got a lot of help from a really generous mushroom producer,” she says. “That’s one reason why I’m so passionate about helping other farmers now.”
"The name Fat Moon Farm was inspired by my son, too." Elizabeth reflects. "One day when he was about 18 months, he pointed up to the sky and said, 'Look at the fat moon!' His father and I started calling every full moon the fat moon."
She added, "When it was time to pick a name, I was thinking about the connection between lunar cycles and farming and nature, and it just seemed like a great name."
While trying to figure this out, Elizabeth bought her son a grow-your-own mushroom kit from Wegmans because he was crazy about mushrooms. She looked at the kit and it hit her: “Aha! Mushrooms!”
The funny thing was, she grew up on a farm where they foraged for morel mushrooms, but it’d never occurred to her that she could produce them as a crop.
Elizabeth gave herself a crash course in mushroom growing and began commercial production in 2016. I got a lot of help from a really generous mushroom producer,” she says. “That’s one reason why I’m so passionate about helping other farmers now.”
"The name Fat Moon Farm was inspired by my son, too." Elizabeth reflects. "One day when he was about 18 months, he pointed up to the sky and said, 'Look at the fat moon!' His father and I started calling every full moon the fat moon."
She added, "When it was time to pick a name, I was thinking about the connection between lunar cycles and farming and nature, and it just seemed like a great name."
Practices
How We Grow:
Fat Moon Farm mushrooms are certified organic by Baystate Organics. Meaning, they are cultivated using only organic materials. All of our products are produced in a dedicated warehouse space in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley.
Mushrooms need less water, energy, and growing materials than almost any other crop, which makes them top in sustainability. And, they’re excellent recyclers of waste material, turning indigestible byproducts such as sawdust, coffee grounds, and straw into delicious food.
Fat Moon Farm mushrooms are certified organic by Baystate Organics. Meaning, they are cultivated using only organic materials. All of our products are produced in a dedicated warehouse space in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley.
Mushrooms need less water, energy, and growing materials than almost any other crop, which makes them top in sustainability. And, they’re excellent recyclers of waste material, turning indigestible byproducts such as sawdust, coffee grounds, and straw into delicious food.