Moab City’s Arts & Ag Market is back at Swanny Park on Friday of this week for its third year at that location. On June 7 from 5 to 8 p.m., over 30 vendors and organizations will set up tables and booths with arts and crafts, prepared foods, farm produce, activities and information about local agencies and events.
New local farm Moab Homegrown, operated by Forrest Nunley and his family, will have a table at the market on Friday. Nunley moved to Moab from Salt Lake City two years ago after retiring from his career as a painting contractor. He grew up in a farming community in Idaho, he said, and always wanted to be a farmer—he transformed his quarter-acre yard in Salt Lake into a vegetable garden. When he was ready to retire, he bought an old horse farm in Spanish Valley and started fixing up the soil.
Forrest Nunley of Moab Homegrown examines his lettuce beds. [Rachel Fixsen/Moab Sun News]
“We’ve got it surviving and producing and happy now,” Nunley said. Last year, he said the farm produced 3,000 pounds of potatoes and 1,000 ears of corn. He’s been selling the produce to Moonflower Market and local restaurants, and also selling and delivering to individual customers.
Nunley said he strives to grow food without pesticides, and as naturally as possible. He encourages birds to his property with bird houses, and they help keep the bug population down. He’s also introduced ladybugs to eat the aphids, and he added earthworms to his raised garden boxes to nurture the soil.
A variety of vegetables are planted on the three-acre farm, including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, cucumbers, squash and corn. There’s a “practice” plot where Nunley is testing to see how other crops do: pomegranate, peas, native blackberries and eggplant. Young fruit trees are getting established; Nunley said he plans to grow grapes, and would like to experiment with growing figs. Salad greens and kale are doing well in shaded, raised beds. Nunley said he’s harvesting four or five bags of lettuce a day.
At the market, Nunley will likely have lettuce and peas for sale, and maybe some early peppers or tomatoes. He plans to bring seeds to give to kids, to inspire them to learn about growing vegetables. He’ll be at Arts & Ag Markets throughout the season; stop by his table to learn more about his farm, or visit the Moab Homegrown website, moabhomegrown.com, or Instagram page @moabhomegrown.
The June 7 market will also feature live music from Rachel Toups. Toups has lived in Moab for about two years, and has performed at the Moab Folk Festival and on local radio station KZMU. They also organized a concert series at Back of Beyond Bookstore through a grant from Moab Arts. At the market, they’ll be performing original songs with local percussionist Jack Hanley.
Toups describes their music as “arty folk,” with a strong storytelling element and frequent themes from the natural world.
“A friend of mine once described it as a mix of soothing and creepy,” they said—a description they liked.
Toups said that music had long been a solitary endeavor for them, but they’ve been finding a musical community in Moab.
“I’m really lucky to have the opportunity to play with some of the incredible musicians that live here,” they said.
Toups will be performing songs from their 2019 album, Sundog (available on Bandcamp) as well as songs from a new album to be released later this year.
Arts & Ag Markets will be on the first Friday of every month from June through October, with a break in August. Moab Arts Director Kelley McInerney explained that other monthly community events land on other Fridays of the month, including movies in the park, the free summer concert series, and Moab Art Walks—there is always something happening on Fridays in the summer.
A past Moab Arts & Ag Market at Swanny City Park. [Courtesy Moab Arts]
The July Arts & Ag Market will team up with the Grand County Fair, which is happening the same weekend at the Old Spanish Trail Arena. Arts & Ag vendors will set up at OSTA on July 5, and be back at Swanny Park on September 6. The last market is scheduled for October 4.
Booths at the first Arts & Ag will include artists and farmers familiar to regular Moab market attendees, as well as new faces and wares. Along with music, produce, food, arts, and crafts, there will be community information: the health department, the Moab Area Housing Task Force,the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service will have tables.
“Moab Arts and the City Sustainability Director will be facilitating free crafts at our booth,” McInerney added. She hopes to see a strong turn-out on Friday.
“I just think it’s a great way to come out and support your local community and get to spend time with people here,” she said.
