by E.M. Squires  

In July, Satellite got you up close and personal with the folks at Indigo Greenstore in Gainesville and their mission to bring sustainable, earth-friendly building and cleaning supplies to the average consumer. This month we feature another hometown visionary expanding our access to the recycled and organic stuff we need for sustainable lifestyles: Mosswood Farm Store in Micanopy. Truth be told, I’d not even know about Mosswood were it not for the folks at Blue Highway Pizzeria where I stopped in for a snack and dropped off some Satellites. The description of “sort of like Indigo, but Micanopy” necessitated a little detour to the small welcoming farmhouse on Cholokka Blvd right next door to the Micanopy Museum.

Emily and her mother, Morgan, proprietors, are making it their mission to “support local agriculture and encourage a buy local movement that builds community.” In addition to the usual handmade soaps, candles and assorted personal care products (I pause here for a deep inhale of just-purchased chamomile and neroli soap), Mosswood features a focused selection of accoutrements for greening your home including laundry supplies (such as soap nuts which tumble with the wash); butter churns, grain mills and cookware for the earthy-crunchy kitchen; local honey and preserves; and a small but impressive selection of bluegrass and gospel music, harmonica and locally made violins. Someone here is a true connoisseur of folk.

And may I mention a small but equally excellent book section? Among the usual offerings of organic gardening and herbal lore publications is an interesting selection of cookbooks and how-to-be-earth-friendly guides. As Emily rings up my copy of Build Your Own Earth Oven, she mentions that they built one out back and there may be some bread making/baking group activities in Mosswood’s future for folks interested in such things.

October 14 will kick of Harvest Sunday, “a weekly gathering of local folks who grow and produce food naturally, and people who choose to buy what they eat from friends and neighbors.” Harvest Sundays will run from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., with vendors limited to those who grow and produce right here in north central Florida.

Contact mosswood@bellsouth.net for info.

Maybe Mosswood just triggers warm fuzzies linked to distant memories of accompanying my mom to old antique stores in rural Virginia or the woodstove at my great-grandmother’s house in east Tennessee … and maybe this is indeed a new twist on the old Gainesville themes of buy local and go organic. Mosswood does have something I haven’t seen before – besides soy crayons. I guess I’ll just have to go back and spend some more time figuring. Their porch is just perfect for that. Y’all come on out and join me.