Frog Hollow is a legendary grower of stone fruit in Brentwood, CA.

You may be familiar with the sweet, crisp carrots from Sunrise Organic Farms, or recognize their label on the boxes. But as always, there is plenty more to see when you look deeper: our latest visit with the farmers highlighted their personal touch – a story of family, community, and innovation, of the hard work and good humor needed to make it as farmers in this era.

While David and Dorothy took the farm over in 1987, their family has been on the land for over 100 years; and their lives are deeply woven into those 130 acres of stone fruit.

Vern is pushing the envelope of organic farming as the main stone fruit grower for Homegrown Organic Farms, our employee-owned partner that provides blueberries, citrus, stone fruit, grapes, and more. 

Just south of Santa Barbara you’ll find the beautiful slopes of Carpinteria, where Tracy, Dave, and their son, Sean, have spent the past two decades in a world of avocados.

Just off the Santa Ynez river, surrounded by mountains on a slope near the ocean, Chris Caldwell of Tutti Frutti grows in an idyllic spot.

Stone fruit season is around the corner and our next stop was to Burkart Organics, an Earl’s exclusive, in Dinuba.

We first met with Anna’s Organics, a up and coming new grower partner located near Chowchilla, CA. Outside of their small pack-shed we met Manuel, father and principal grower, Luis, his son who takes care of sales, Anna, his daughter in charge of business and organic compliance, and their mother: quality control, and operations. It’s a true family-run business!

In Selma we met the infamous Ryan San Jose, “Sales Ninja” of Rainbow Valley Orchards, and quickly hopped in his truck to start our tour. He launched into RVO history as he weaved through traffic on the 99 towards Visalia, flanked by the fruit and nut orchards that dominate the San Joaquin Valley.