A Few of Our California Farmers

The Balakian family grows peaches, plums, nectarines, pluots, apricots, summer squash, tomatoes, Armenian cucumbers, and more on 20 acres of certified organic farmland. They’ve farmed in Reedley, California, since 1925, when they arrived as Armenian refugees. Today, three generations of the family run the farm together, including Stella and Amber (pictured)!

Founded by fruit sellers Jim Marderosian and Alan Derderian, the folks at Bee Sweet Citrus have been busy as bees packing and shipping California citrus since 1987. Bee Sweet supplies sweet-tart delights like oranges, lemons, grapefruits, and mandarins year-round.

Otis Booth, Jr. started Booth Ranches all the way back in 1957. The family-owned farm has been chugging along ever since, turning out top-notch citrus like Navel oranges, Valencia oranges, Cara Cara oranges, Minneola tangelos, and W. Murcott mandarins.

When peach farmer Jack Brandt Sr.’s fellow farmers asked for his help getting fruit to market, he expanded Brandt Farms to include packing and shipping. Now the Brandts grow peaches, plums, nectarines, grapes, and persimmons in California’s San Joaquin Valley, and pack other fruit, too! Farmer Michael Reimer (pictured) runs Brandt Farms with Jack Brandt III.

Creekside Organics is a woman- and LGBTQ+-owned company based in Bakersfield that markets and sells fruit and vegetables grown by more than sixty organic farms across California and Mexico. One of them belongs to Co-CEO Bianca Kaprielian’s family! We love sharing Creekside’s organic citrus, grapes, stone fruit, pomegranates, persimmons, and more.

Cuyama Orchards is a family-owned organic apple farm in California’s Cuyama Valley. The Albano family started farming apples in 1992, specializing in hard-to-find heirloom varieties like the Arkansas Black and Ashmead’s Kernel.

This 130-acre family farm is a stone fruit oasis in Parlier, California, growing more than 70 varieties of certified organic peaches, plums, nectarines, and their hybrids! Farmers Dorothy and David Boldt manage the orchard with their sons: Alex, Nick, and Pete. Dorothy’s great-grandmother started the farm with her children in 1913.

Family Tree is a multi-generational family farm run by the Jackson family in Reedley, California. The Jacksons grow delicious and unique varieties of fruit, like blueberries, plumcots, donut nectarines, and peaches. They also donate produce to feed those in need!

Fruition Sales started in 1988 as a single orchard in Central California. Today, it represents multiple family farms growing sweet and juicy citrus. Its farms turn out beautiful heirloom navel oranges, Shasta Gold mandarins, mandarinquats, and more to make the winter brighter.

This fourth-generation family farm in Watsonville, California, dates back to 1937, when farmer Vincent John Gizdich planted five acres of apples and raised chickens and pigs on the property. His family still runs the farm today! They grow delicious apples, strawberries, boysenberries, and olallieberries (sweet-tart blackberry lookalikes that are a cross between loganberries and black youngberries).

Jack Pandol, a third-generation California grape grower, founded Grapery in 1996. His vineyards in Kern and Tulare counties grow delicious table grapes, including unique varieties like Gum Drops™, Moon Drops™, and Cotton Candy™.

Homegrown Organic Farms is a cooperative company representing over 100 organic farmers. Its farms span more than 7,000 acres in California’s San Joaquin Valley and grow organic blueberries, citrus, stone fruit, pomegranates, persimmons, grapes, and more.

At JSM Organics, farmer Javier Zamora grows organic berries, vegetables, and flowers on a 200-acre, certified organic farm. Javier grew up in Mexico and has a deep appreciation for the land. He uses eco-friendly practices like planting cover crops to prevent erosion, feed the soil through nitrogen fixation, and increase biodiversity.

King Fresh’s story goes all the way back to 1933—the year that young farmer Dee Wilson left Oklahoma behind to become a California farmer. Today, King Fresh Produce grows grapes, cherries, pomegranates, and citrus fruits on more than 4,000 acres in California’s San Joaquin Valley and beyond.

Kings River Packing dates back to 1853 when farmers William and Mary Hazelton settled in California’s Central Valley. Eight generations on, the family is still growing, packing, and shipping organic and conventional citrus, including fun varieties like Raspberry Oranges ® and Minneola tangelos.

Kingsburg Orchards is owned and operated by a fifth-generation farming family. They partner with other farmers to grow, pack, and ship more than 200 varieties of apples and stone fruits (including white nectarines, apple pears, and apriums—a plum/apricot hybrid) in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

The Olson family has farmed in Kingsburg, California, for an impressively long time—since 1889! The Olsons have used organic practices since day one (since before we even used the word organic!) and today their farm grows at least seventy-five varieties of certified organic stone fruit, including peaches, plums, apricots, and nectarines.

Blake and Lisa Carlson have grown stone fruit on their family farm in Kingsburg since 1984, and many of their workers have been with them since the beginning. They’ve supplied The FruitGuys with juicy nectarines, peaches, and plums since 2007.

Jim Shanley started farming in 1998 with a plot of avocados in Morro Bay, California. Today, he runs Shanley Farms with his daughter, Megan Shanley Warren! They grow unique and delicious finger limes, avocados, goji berries, passion fruit, and more on two sites—one in Morro Bay and one in Visalia.

Sweet Valley Produce is a woman- and BIPOC-owned farm that also sells produce for other small family farms. Founder Angelica Estrada and her team grow a rainbow of sweet potatoes and source local apples, strawberries, and more from their friends.

Flavor Tree connects The FruitGuys with more than forty organic and conventional farms in California’s central and southern San Joaquin Valley. Its farms grow mouth-watering fruits like golden kiwis, more than a dozen varieties of cherries, and fabulous Verry Cherry plums (a plum-cherry cross created right here in California).