Moon Dog Farms

MOON DOG FARMS: FLOWERS, PRODUCE AND CHILDREN ALL NATURALLY BY MELISSA BLAIR

NRCS conservation assistance help urban ag producers in growing produce and flowers for Houston and Galveston farmers markets.

Valentine’s even comes to Moon Dog Farms where the tomato shaped like a heart was dubbed, “Valentomato” in this photo sent to Casey from Alex aka “McFarmer” as she calls him.

NRCS District Conservationist, Chris Morgan, presents a NRCS partner sign to Alex and Casey for Moon Dog Farms.

Moon Dog Farms not only sells their flower bouquets at farmers markets, but also delivers to customers in the local area.

Hazel loves helping her parents pull carrots. M oon Dog Farms, in Santa Fe, Texas, is more than just a small, family-operated farm with a delicious assortment of naturally certified grown vegetables and flowers —it’s become a big way of life for co-owners Casey McAuliffe and Alex McPhail.

A way to be able to work outdoors. A way to ensure their young daughter, Hazel, can develop a relationship with nature. And a way to give back to the community they care so much about.

After they both graduated from Southwestern University, Alex studied sustainable agriculture in North Carolina, and both Casey and Alex worked for several different farmers around the country, before moving to Texas in 2012. As they each realized their passion for working the land and being outdoors, they were lucky enough to have family land in Galveston County available to them.

“We hit the ground running growing radishes,” recalls Casey, who explains in addition to some existing citrus trees on the property, they soon began to sell small-scale crops at the area’s farmers markets in 2013. “We’ve grown a little bit each year ever since,” she says. In addition to the good, healthy eats, Moon Dog Farms also grows a lot of flower crops.

“We’ve developed quite a substantial cut flower following here at our local markets and so more and more of our land gets used for our flowers,” explains Casey.

Trial and Error + Helping Hands Leads to Expansion from the Ground Up

Today, they grow their crops year-round, tending to all kinds of lettuces, greens, carrots, and other root crops. Summer crops include tomatoes, cucumbers, as well as squash okra, eggplant, and peppers. They are able to keep Moon Dog operational all year thanks to some help from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), who has helped with conservation planning and financial assistance on the high tunnels.

“We had done most of our farming experience in completely different environments,” explains Casey, who says they’d spent their longest seasons in New York. “When we got down here, it was quite the rude awakening to find that those seasons do not apply.”

“There’s this conception about Texas agriculture that it’s always dry and that it’s always in drought— that’s never been the problem for us since we’ve been growing.”

Determined to get some measure of control over the land, Casey and Alex did their research, and hearing from farmers in the north who had high tunnels, they learned about the opportunities that NRCS could provide.

“We thought ‘why not us?’ and ‘Why not here?’” They reached out to NRCS, Brazoria County district conservationist, Chris Morgan, who came out to assess their needs, and the rest is history.

Chris started as the NRCS district conservationist in Brazoria and Galveston counties in 2016. Moon Dog Farms was one of the first producers he worked with when he moved to the area, having previously worked in the Panhandle and further south.

“I got to see them pretty much from ground zero. It was a good and interesting introduction,” says Morgan.

“We looked at high tunnels, which is what they originally came in looking to improve their plant productivity and health,” Morgan explains. “We started off with just one high tunnel and moved on with three new ones in 2018 and 2019.”

“It was really kind of a dream,” recalls Casey who says that NRCS took care of everything. “They walked us through and held our hands and now we have four tunnels,” Casey says.

“Without the tunnels, we were really doing the bulk of our production in maybe two and a half months. The tunnels have

Alex agrees that the tunnels have helped them to claim back the “shoulders of the seasons” that tend to be the more productive seasons.

High tunnels have extended the growing season for Casey and Alex and also allowed them to control erosion to keep soil from washing away. “Like Casey said, [the tunnels] give us just a little bit of control over how much water things get and give us a little bit of control over the temperature in the wintertime,” he says.

Helping Hands

Without the NRCS, Casey is certain that Moon Dog Farms would not be where it is today. “We’ve grown so much since our early days. Without the NRCS we wouldn’t be where we are. We’d be in a different place,” says Casey.

“The high tunnels just would not have been an option for us for a long time without the support of the NRCS. Not just the financial support through the high tunnel assistance, but it’s a network. We’ve really felt supported, and we’ve had so many questions answered.”

Since their first meeting and with the incorporation of the high tunnels to the Moon Dog property, NRCS District Conservationist Chris Morgan adds, that it’ been a changing operation ever since. “I provide advice and technical assistance here and there,” he says. “What’s really helped is they’ve also taken the initiative to learn and adapt to the soil and to the plants that produce best for their operation.”

Casey is thankful for the help they have found in NRCS. “Because we’re a small organic farm in an area where there’s not a whole lot of that going on, every ally that we have is very meaningful and the NRCS has been an ally from the very beginning and we appreciate that more than we can say,” says Casey.

Giving Back to the Community

Moon Dog Farms is committed to connecting to their local community and giving back. The operation is dedicated to stewardship of the land, reinforcing a healthy community, and producing great food. The farming duo continue to expand their farm, not just within the confines of the soil, but by looking for ways to connect with their community as well. Casey is also the Executive Director for Galveston’s Own Farmers Market (GOFM), a non-profit organization that connects local community members to local foods.

Casey at the Moon Dog Farms booth at Galveston’s Own Farmers Market.