family farm

Furry Friends from the Farm: Meet the Farm Dogs & Cats!

By Lex Flamm on November 7, 2024

There’s nothing like the sweet, fuzzy face of a dog or cat to make a long day on the farm a little easier. With that in mind, The FruitGuys team asked our farm partners from across the country to send …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, family farm, farmers, Pennsylvania, support small farms

Farmer of the Month: Steve Frecon of Frecon Farms

By Lex Flamm on October 24, 2024

If the word “orchard” brings to mind acres of flat, fertile ground covered in gently waving fruit trees, go ahead and toss that image out the window. At Frecon Farms—a small family farm—in Boyertown, …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: family farm, farmers, Pennsylvania, support small farms

Asian Pear Farms From Coast to Coast

By Erin Mittelstaedt on September 25, 2024

I absolutely love Asian pears. They come in dozens of varieties, like Hosui and Shinseiki to name a few. Some have thin yellow or yellow-green skin, some have thicker golden skin. Some are small and …

Filed Under: Chief Banana Tagged With: California, fall fruit, family farm, Pennsylvania, small farms

Farmer of the Month: Tyler Hollenbach of Subarashii Kudamono

By Lex Flamm on September 1, 2024

Every spring, the AsaJu Asian pear trees in Subarashii Kudamono’s orchards release a shower of delicate white petals. The falling flowers reveal tiny pears the size of marbles—and that’s when the real …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: fall fruit, family farm, farmer of the month, Pennsylvania

Farmer of the Month: Clair Kauffman of Kauffman Orchards

By Lex Flamm on August 16, 2024

Kauffman Orchards in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania, turns out super-sweet Saturn donut peaches, glossy Ruby Queen plums, and crisp Ginger Gold apples every year. But Orchard Manager Clair Kauffman is a …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: fall fruit, family farm, Pennsylvania, small farms, summer fruit

Fourth of July Fruit Facts

By Erin Mittelstaedt on July 3, 2024

I grew up outside of Philadelphia, and reminders of the American Revolution were everywhere in my childhood. We hiked through the forests of Valley Forge National Historical Park and played in its log …

Filed Under: Chief Banana Tagged With: family farm, fresh fruit

Farmer of the Month: Abby Schilling of Mick Klüg Farms

By Lex Flamm on June 28, 2024

“So, a social worker, a farmer, an engineer, and a salesman walk into a bar…” That sounds like the beginning of a cheesy joke, but if you swap the word “farm” in for “bar,” it’s pretty close to the …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: berries, family farm, farmer of the month, stone fruit, sustainable farming

A Tale of Prison, Peaches, and Persistence

By Erin Mittelstaedt on May 8, 2024

Last year, my family and I had the honor of hearing artist Jeanie Kashima, a longtime friend of my parents, speak about her amazing collages at Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical …

Filed Under: Chief Banana Tagged With: california farms, family farm, farmers

Farmer of the Month: John Warmerdam of New Excelsior Farming

By Lex Flamm on May 3, 2024

When John Warmerdam was a kid, his school bus didn’t drop him off at home—or even at the corner near his house. Instead, it took him to his family’s fruit packing shed. “That’s where my …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, family farm, farmer of the month, stone fruit

Farmer of the Month: Emily Ayala of Friend’s Ranches

By Lex Flamm on March 11, 2024

Emily Ayala’s voice is both exhausted and euphoric. “We’re starting the harvest of Ojai Pixies today!” she told The FruitGuys over Zoom on Feb. 28, grinning into the camera. “I’ve been up since …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, citrus, family farm, farmer of the month

Are Small Farms Important? 6 Reasons to Support Them

By The FruitGuys on February 7, 2024

It’s hard to flip through a food magazine these days without coming across an article telling you to “shop small,” “eat local,” or “support a farmer.” That’s largely thanks to the farm-to-table …

Filed Under: Impact Tagged With: family farm, farm grants, fruitguys community fund, small farms

Farmer of the Month: Vince Bernard of Bernard Ranch

By Lex Flamm on January 30, 2024

It can be tough to get a farmer on the phone during their busiest season. But when The FruitGuys called Vince Bernard of Bernard Ranch to check in on how his family farm in Riverside, CA, was doing, …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: California, citrus, family farm, farmer of the month, sustainable farming

Featured Farm: Fruit World

By Pia Hinckle on December 3, 2021

Fruit World is famous for its extraordinary Sky Ranch Mandarins, a clementine grown on farmer Bianca Kaprielian’s grandfather’s ranch, which sits atop one of the area’s tallest foothills and is named …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, Profiles Tagged With: citrus, family farm, farm, mandarin

Fruitful Visits

By Shannan Slevin on July 27, 2016

Frecon Farms, in southeastern Pennsylvania, is as rich in history and community as it is in apples and stone fruits. Founded in 1944 by Richard S. Frecon and his wife, Martha, the orchard started as …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News Tagged With: apple, family farm, stone fruit, sustainability

New Family Farm

By Heidi Lewis on May 23, 2013

New Family Farm of Sebastopol, California, was one of six farms awarded grants in April 2013 from The FruitGuys Community Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives. An outgrowth of …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, Profiles Tagged With: California, family farm, fruitguys community fund, organic farming, sustainable farming

Farmers on Food Safety

By FruitGuys Staff on April 10, 2013

By Judith Redmond of Full Belly Farm, courtesy of Capay Valley Farm Shop When I first heard the term “food safety” I knew that even the term itself was a problem, representing an approach to …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, Profiles Tagged With: family farm, food safety, organic farming, sustainability

The Farm Bill: Why Farmers Need to Be Activists

By Tanya Tolchin on March 25, 2013

Many small family farms switch into gear in late winter and early spring to get the farm season on track. On our farm we are busy ordering seeds, building new hoop houses, fixing fences, tuning up …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News Tagged With: family farm, farm, organic farming, organic fruit, small farms

Durst Organic Growers

By Heidi Lewis on March 23, 2013

Farming with Heart By Heidi Lewis The main ingredient in good vegetables, says farmer Jim Durst, is soil: “Feed the soil, and the soil will feed the plants." Jim and his wife, Deborah, have been …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News, Profiles Tagged With: family farm, farm, organic farming

Subsidizing Big Ag

By Charlene Oldham on October 11, 2012

Small Farms Left Out of Farm Bill By Charlene Oldham When the first “farm bill” was created in the late 1930s to help family farms, horses and hand plows were as common on farms as Model …

Filed Under: FruitGuys News Tagged With: Agriculture, family farm, farm, farmers, health, organic farming, sustainability

Mick Klug Farms, Saint Joseph, MI

By Heidi Lewis on March 8, 2012

The USDA classifies family farms as “any farm organized as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or family corporation.” But a cold definition is never the whole story, is it? Mick Klug grew up on his …

Filed Under: Profiles Tagged With: Chicago, family farm, small farms