Why One of the Last Stone Fruit Growers in the Valley of Heart's Delight Is Downsizing

General Fruit Growing
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I’ve read about “Valley of Heart’s Delight”. Wish I had been around to see it at its peak. These changes must be very sad for all the folks who lived and worked there back then.

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@AccidentalGrower
I remember it from the early 1960s and onward. There were literally miles of orchards. My uncle lived there on Branham Lane. His son–my cousin, now lives in a tract home at the western end, owing to a freeway intersection being built at the location of his father’s house.

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Those old orchard regions are heartbreaking to read about. The combination of soil issues and warming winters is really tough to fight when you’re a commercial grower, the margins just don’t allow for it. Glad there are still people documenting it at least.

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Interesting article. Andy Mariani is a fruit grower icon.

I thought it was interesting he is only selling his nects for $3 per lb. (i.e. sign in the picture shows 2 lbs. for $6). I would have thought tree ripened fruit like that would sell for considerably more near Silicon Valley. This summer I sold peaches for $3.25 per lb., and most of my customers are blue collar families. I didn’t seem to have any trouble selling peaches at that price.

I’ve no idea what the fresh fruit markets/farmer’s markets are like near Silicon Valley, but I wonder if Andy has tested the market for his fruit to see if he can charge more to cover his costs?

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It does. I don’t know about the peninsula or South Bay these days but in the east bay 5 or 6 a pound isn’t unheard of. Even at CSA prices frog hollow is around there and in stores I’ve seen theirs as high as $8. I think I paid $5 or $6 at a upick in their general area

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I see now the picture says it was taken 2021, so that’s 5 years ago. Do you recall the going rate for peaches/nects 5 years ago?

We we were at $2.50 per lb. in 2021 for peaches/nects, so Andy’s fruit would have been 50 cents higher than the going rate around here (Kansas/Missouri)

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I really don’t. At that time I was getting all of my stone fruit from the frog hollow csa, I’ll guess at around $5 a pound but let’s call that low confidence. In medium to higher end stores maybe 4-5 for the organic? Let’s call that very low confidence

This summer conventional peaches/nects at Costco were ~2.50 but (I believe) from out Fresno ways. So hitting a very different demographic

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