How we got here.

My grandfather bought his first ranch here in Ojai in 1952, it was a one acre parcel and he always grew citrus there. And when my father bought his own ranch, I worked with him every Saturday, every holiday and in the summers. After college, I went into farming fulltime, and eventually came back home after about 50 years to farm with my father.

The next generation.

I have two kids, a son and a daughter, and both have grown up around the ranch. I think my teaching method is probably the same as what my dad’s was–through osmosis. I think they learn better through doing and observation, because a father trying to tell a grown son how to do something usually doesn’t work so well.

What I love about being a mandarin grower.

Living and farming citrus in Ojai is just gorgeous. There’s a time here at the end of each day where I stop, take a moment to relax and just enjoy the beauty around me. Whatever had happened during the day just melts away, and I feel at peace.

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