Farmer of the Month: Amber Balakian of Balakian Farms

In some ways, a family farm is just an extra-large kitchen garden. It’s an extension of the home and the people that live there—at least, that’s how fourth-generation farmer Amber Balakian feels about Balakian Farms. 

“We care for the land because we live on it; it’s not just this property that is separate from us,” she told The FruitGuys when we called to check in on the farm’s summer fruit season.

The Balakian (pronounced Buh-lake-ian) family grows stone fruit like peaches, plums, nectarines, plutos, and apricots on twenty acres of certified organic farmland in Reedley, California. They also plant row crops like summer squash, heirloom tomatoes, and Armenian cucumbers. Those cucumbers mean a lot to Amber because they’re a nod to her family’s Armenian heritage. 

Balakian Farms’ Refugee Roots

Balakian Farms dates back to 1925. That year, Zadig and Victoria Balakian founded the farm after fleeing the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Their son John married Stella Krikorian—the daughter of fellow Armenian refugees. 

Today, Stella co-owns the farm with her daughter Ginger, her son-in-law Clarence, and her granddaughter Amber. It’s truly a family business, and Amber says the farm’s workers are as invested as her family. Brothers Angel and Benny Chavez are managers on the farm and have worked there for more than twenty years. 

Clarence and Amber are both Black, and Balakian’s status as a BIPOC- and woman-owned farm used to be limiting. Amber said it made it “harder for us to do certain things and get into certain places.” But now, the tables have turned.

“By staying true to our heritage, who we are, and where we came from—just by sharing that and not being ashamed of it in any way or letting it be a barrier for us—I think we’ve kind of turned it around. [Celebrating our ownership and heritage] is actually an opportunity to help us grow and sustain ourselves,” she said. 

The FruitGuys has worked with Amber since 2021, and we’re proud to add Balakian’s apricots, cucumbers, and tomatoes to our organic fruit delivery boxes and our Organic Basics Box, which includes both fruits and vegetables. 

When we spoke in June, Amber gave us the rundown on Balakian’s 2024 stone fruit season. 

A Fantastic Year for Stone Fruit

A deluge of rain made growing some fruit crops tricky in California last year, but this spring the Balakians lucked into dry, cool weather. Stepping onto the farm feels like entering a lush oasis of green leaves and glowing, gem-like fruit. 

“So far it has been a really good season, especially for our stone fruit,” Amber said. “… I’m sure I say this every year, but the fruit is just really good tasting, with a good size and sweetness. We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback and it’s been really fragrant, too.

Balakian Farms is known for its unique fruit and vegetable varieties, including heart-shaped Elephant Heart plums, Arctic Rose white nectarines so sweet they taste sugared, and tiny Fairy Tale eggplants. This year, the Balakians planted a few new trees to add even more novel flavors to the farm, like wine-red Sangria plumcots. 

“I love our Scarlet Lady peaches, and for the nectarines, I like Honey Royale, Honey Lite—any of the varieties that start with the word ‘honey,’” Amber told us in June. “… They’re appropriately named and just so good.” 

July and August will bring even more fun flavors to the farm, like Fire Pearl white nectarines, Summer Zee yellow peaches, Flavor Grenade red pluots, and Autumn Snow white peaches. 

All of Balakian’s fruit is certified organic and has been since the 1990s. 

“We were one of the first farms in our area to transition to organic. I think the whole process was definitely risky at the time, but it has obviously paid off now because people’s preferences have shifted so much over the years. It’s an important part of who we are now and what our farm stands for in terms of setting higher standards,” Amber said. 

Harvard Businesswoman/Farmer 

Amber’s mother Ginger led the effort to transition Balakian Farms to organic practices in the 1990s. In the decades since, Amber has followed in her footsteps working on the business side of farming—although that wasn’t always the plan. 

As a young adult, Amber wanted to join the corporate world. She studied economics at the University of California San Diego for her bachelor’s degree, then earned her master’s in management and operations from Harvard. But the Ivy League taught her a new appreciation for farming. 

“That was around the time when sustainability and those types of things were being introduced,” she said. “Learning about that and the importance of that made me realize that I had something unique in my family’s farm. It made me want to go back and help.” 

Today, Amber handles the sales and marketing at Balakian. She particularly loves sharing her family’s story, heritage, and traditions on social media (check out @balakianfarms on Instagram) and making bread-and-butter pickles with her grandmother Stella’s family recipe. She also teaches business classes at Fresno City College. 

“I really like the business side of farming, and I just like how we’re able to create our own path,” she said.