The Buck Moon Garlic Story

Buck Moon Garlic is more than just a place to buy your garlic; it’s a culmination of all that is good about food, agriculture, and family. We like food with flavor. That said, we work hard to bring you the best tasting garlic you can find, and every meal that you serve up with Buck Moon Garlic will have the flavor that makes it memorable. We also have a true appreciation for sustainable agriculture and producing garlic that is free of all chemicals and pesticides.

As a small, family-owned and operated farm, we can’t produce the most garlic, and you won’t find our products at the large chain stores. We hope, however, that you will appreciate the time, effort, and care that goes into every bulb. We want to earn your trust and business so that our garlic can continue to be a part of your family’s meals for years to come.

Lastly, Buck Moon Garlic became what it is because of family and friends. Inspired by friends to start growing and helped by family to make it possible, Buck Moon Garlic is about sharing stories and making memories on the farm. It’s about raising a family to appreciate the land and where their food comes from. We truly hope that our garlic can be a part of your stories and memories. From our family’s fields to your family’s table, thank you for choosing Buck Moon Garlic.

The Buck Moon Farm Story

Buck Moon Farm is located in West-Central Wisconsin just outside the small town of Independence. It is nestled in one of the numerous beautiful valleys of the Driftless Area complete with springs, hills, a stream, and sunsets that make the views some of the best in the world. We may be biased, but if you have ever spent some time in our part of Wisconsin, you know what we’re talking about. On our farm you can find anything from garlic to beef calves running in the pasture. We have a true appreciation for growing and raising our own food, and Buck Moon provides us all we need and more.

July. Our favorite month. Some of the most important events in our lives have happened during the time when music festivals, fireworks, barbeques, and campfires reach their peak popularity for Americans.  We started dating, got married, and moved into the home in which we would someday raise a family all in the month of July. Fittingly, July is also the month that we harvest garlic here in Wisconsin.

When thinking about a name for our farm, we knew that it had to include this important month. A year after we moved onto the farm, it was still nameless. After a little research, Ryan learned that a woman by the name of Sarah Moon was one of the first owners of the land in the 1870s, and he came up with the idea of  “July Moon.” Shortly after, Ryan taught his 6th grade students a lesson about the Native Americans’ names for each of the full moons. The full July moon was named the “Buck Moon” because July is the month when the new velvety antlers of buck white-tailed deer emerge from their foreheads.  The frequent presence of deer in our pasture made this name seem more fitting. Weeks later, Amber learned that our wedding day, July 12th 2014, happened to be the day of the full Buck Moon. The name connected the start of our lives together with the history and appeal of our land, so in 2016, Buck Moon Farm was officially established.

Buck Moon Farm is  a lifestyle. It’s a way that we can raise our family to  believe in the values and morals that are so close to our hearts. It’s the idea that every day should be filled with family time, hard work, and an appreciation for the little things. It’s laying our heads down to sleep at night feeling blessed and content with the life that we have been given.

The Growers’ Story

Teachers who just happen to grow a lot of garlic!

We met during college in 2012 at a country music festival. A year after meeting we got engaged at the same music festival and were married a year later…just not at the same music festival. Ryan grew up in Independence, WI and had background in agriculture from working on the farm and gardening with his dad to working on his uncles’ dairy farms. He knew someday that he would love to be back in the area working a farm of his own. As for Amber, although her hometown of Chetek, WI will always be special, she is happy to have found a little piece of heaven on the farm in Independence. 

In June of 2017, we welcomed our son Rhett into the world. He loves working outside on the farm already! Then, in August of 2019, our daughter Maren was born, and now she holds the title of the “youngest bulb” in the family.

While growing garlic and farming are passions of ours, we do have full-time jobs off of the farm. Amber teaches high school science in the local school district, and Ryan works in the poultry industry as Broiler Representative.