Flowers, pumpkins and a fall market at Rue & Sage

MOSES LAKE — There’s a lot growing at Rue & Sage this fall. The floral business offers a U-pick pumpkin patch and hosts a fall pop-up market, and now they’ve expanded into U-pick flowers as well. Home decorations and furniture will be available at the event.

“People can come in and pick the size of bucket they want to use, and then they can just pick,” said Rebecca Sterner, who owns Rue & Sage with her husband Barry. “We have it all labeled so it’s easy for them to know which they can get and what not to pick. It’s a good way for people to see our flower farm.” 

“People can come out and pick some flowers, make some little bouquets,” Barry said. “If they want to, they can … have their own little picnic and hang out for the day while they pick and enjoy the space that we work so very hard to make beautiful.” 

Rue & Sage began offering self-service flowers about three weeks ago, and even with the smoke in the air they got a decent turnout, Barry said. The flowers are sold on the honor system, Rebecca said. The flower patches will be open to pickers every Saturday, she said. 

Thursday, Rue & Sage will hold its third annual Fall Market, with food and craft vendors and a bloom bar where guests can assemble cut flowers, Rebecca said. Vendor options include furniture from B&K Wine Barrel Creations, macrame decor from Wild & Knotty and vintage selections from Plume. Food will be available from Tony’s Smash Burgers and Wize Guys Beef. 

Admission to the market is free, Rebecca said. 

The Fall Market will also feature the annual opening of the Rue & Sage U-pick Pumpkin Patch. The pumpkin selection will include the usual orange gourds, Rebecca said, but also a range of colors and shapes. 

“We have … lots of white (pumpkins),” she said. “We have bluish ones, and have some that are a little more pink, some brown and some that we call black, which are really, really dark green.” 

Rue & Sage will be the lunch stop on the Columbia Basin Dahlia and Cut Flower Festival flower farm tour Sept. 26, Rebecca said, and will also host a visit that day from author and podcaster Debra Prinzing. Prinzing will sign copies of her book “The Flower Farmers: Inspiration and Advice from Expert Growers.” 

The U-pick flowers caused the Sterners a certain amount of anxiousness, Barry said, but he believes the customers will enjoy it enough to be worth it. 

“It's always nerve-wracking having somebody come out pick the flowers,” he said. “But we're taking a chance this year. We've got nice new instructions at the end of each row to help, and we precut the ones that we're more nervous about.” 

    Attendees at Rue & Sage’s Fall Market preserve a memory in the pumpkin tunnel.
  

    Rue & Sage owner Barry Sterner shows one of the farm’s specialty pumpkins. The U-pick pumpkin patch will open for the year at the Fall Market Thursday.