EAST COUNTY CORNUCOPIA The Story of the Tachella Farm
	JULY/AUGUST 2004

by Jim Tachella
Photos by Brad Shifflett

We've been farming in Brentwood since my dad bought first place back in 1952. My wife, Kathey, and I took over the business in 1971 when my dad passed away.

We made a very unplanned decision seven years ago to get into the fruit stand business, Up until that point. I had been selling wholesale product to Sunsweet for dried fruit in their products. Sunsweet made a sudden corporate decision to begin buying cheaper and (in our considered opinions) inferior apricots from Turkey.

The decision by Sunsweet really cut us off at the knees. Their sudden departure left us with acres of young trees laden with apricots. So in desperation we put up a "Pick-Your-Own Apricots" sign and sold the entire crop.

"Yeah! We've Got Some of That!"
Getting into the Pick-Your-Own business seemed such a good idea that we decided to do it again the subsequent year. We began selling local corn and planting our own Zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, and beets. We've recently added peas and fava beans. Those fava beans turned into a great seller for us. We can't keep them on hand; they are gone as soon as we pick them. We have to keep telling people, "Come back next week."

People are amazed to see us growing artichokes. We have actually been getting some pretty good crops. Artichokes have a shorter growing season around here than along the cooler and more moist coastline — usually we begin selling these around Easter.

We are still known especially for the quality and variety of our apricots. We have four varieties of these, as well as ten varieties each of peaches and nectarines. The different varieties have various seasons of growth, so growing this many varieties ensures that we can continue selling ripe fruit from Memorial Day until September.

We also get two crops of figs, one in June and the other in August. We have some cherries and this year planted a few more acres. These will be bearing fruit in a few years.

We are members of Harvest Time, which is an association of 37 local growers who are working together to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to local residents.

Focusing on People and Traditions
This business is not just about making money, though that's the big part of it, of course. We really like the people that come by our stand; we have some wonderful, even terrific customers.

We had a truly astonishing experience last year. One woman, who was trying to make the decision about whether to move to Brentwood or not, stopped by our stand and bought some of our apricots and then went straight to the mortgage broker and signed for the house. She actually told us that she made the decision so she could remain near our trees.

We've had other great experiences at our stand. One of our customers — a young woman in her mid 20s — asked my wife about canning, so Kathey printed out recipes for her. The young lady returned later and said that her first experience with canning had been great and had produced tremendous results. This was encouraging since you don't see too many young people canning any more, and the older people keep telling me they are getting too old to do it.

Kathey's a devoted canner herself, and every year cans apricots, peaches, and beets. Many people have requested copies of her recipe for canning apricots and beets, along with her jam recipes.

A lot of young people no longer know — or have forgotten — how good home canned products can taste when they are made from fruit that was ripened on the tree and canned while still fresh. When some people taste their first spoonful of Kathey's canned fruit they simply close their eyes in order to savor that great moment.

In my opinion, there is no comparison possible between the experience of tasting my wife's canned fruit and eating one of those apricots you get out of the store-bought cans.

One of our specialties is growing canning-quality apricots. The Blenheim apricot has always been the accepted standard in most growers' thinking. However, ten years ago I was planting 20 acres of these and came out 400 trees short. The salesman talked me into planting a variety called Golden Sweet, which are especially suitable for canning. Those 400 trees were, at that time, the largest planting of Golden Sweet apricots in Northern California, since it was only the second year the variety was released.

Golden Sweet has now become the apricot of choice for packing and shipping. They are large and taste as good as a Blenheim, or better. Golden Sweet proved out so well that other people are getting in on this. Some people believe that they are destined to become the apricots of the future for drying.

Witness to Change
The base of potential customers living here in East County, of course, grows larger every month. We have to laugh sometimes at customers who bought a home here a few years ago and now are complaining about all the people moving in.

When my dad bought the first place in 1952, Brentwood was a lively little town with 1,500 people. There were eight packing sheds, so beginning with cherries in the spring, packing activities continued until the first frosts finally killed the last of the tomatoes.

The current Safeway was the site of a big melon packing shed. A huge California Fruit Exchange building stood where Jalisco's is now. Those big plants were all over the place. Trains were coming in for lettuce and cherries all day long. Cars were being switched all night long.

The big Brentwood Hotel sat where the Chevron station now is on the corner of Oak and Brentwood Blvd. The buyers from canning companies, etc. used to rent rooms there. Brentwood was something of a boom town.

Working our Heart Out
We make more money with U-Pick than when we grew for Sunsweet. But we have to work a lot harder. I've got less free time. Even in the winters I've been working on building our new fruit stand.

The business is a family affair. Kathey's dad, Frank, lives right next door. He's a retired implement mechanic, but still works in our fruit stand. Kathey's sister, Sheryl, has a five-day-a-week job and then is out here on the weekends. Our daughter, Jennifer, is in college, but works in the stand all summer long. Our nine-year-old, Jayme, is already starting to help in the stand or baby-setting our three-year-old Johnathin.

The long hours are difficult and are getting longer. I used to have three apricot orchards and was extremely busy only during harvest time, pruning, and during times when I was setting up irrigation.

These days, however, I have to wrestle with planting vegetable gardens and new orchards. In addition to this, for the past several years I've been spending a lot of my extra time building our large, new fruit stand, plus furnishing it with new counters and shelves.

As soon as I get the fruit stand finished, Kathey has a honey-do list that's about seven years long, I think. I'm sure it is longer now than it was yesterday at this time.

We reduced our operation from our largest size a few years ago when we had three ranches. I bought our current 35-acre spread in 1976; inherited another 23 acre piece, which is now the site of the Ponderosa Crossroads. The third ranch was 15 acres.

I sold the other two pieces and originally planned to retire to this one. However, I'm working harder now than when I had all three ranches.

When I first got into farming it was fun. I enjoyed it. I had one orchard, saved enough money to buy a second, and then a third. There were some years when we didn't get much of a crop. It was work but a lot of fun. It was an adventure. Now it just seems like a lot of hard work.

I've got to slow down sometime. Someday I'm going to find some quiet place up in the mountains, perhaps. I don't know where that will be, but I'm thinking I'll find a place with about 1,500 residents, just like the old Brentwood when I was young.

"You can't go home," people say. But maybe if I'm lucky I can settle someplace that looks like the old neighborhood. That would be nice.