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(new photo to be posted soon) |
Lagier Ranches - Each Generation Leaves its Mark
John Lagier's maternal great-grand father, Henry Poyner, started farming
the property that is now Lagier Ranch in the 1870's after migrating to Escalon, California
(near Stockton) from Georgia. In the early days, the family grew wheat and barely and
raised mules for mule teams ("as in the 20-Mule Team Borax ads", John says). By
the 1930's, they diversified into wine grapes and almonds, which in that era were
dry-farmed because the Central Valley's irrigation canals had not yet been built. With the
advent of irrigation, John's father added melons to the farm's scope and John, who took
over the 350-acre Ranch from his father in 1990, started growing berries and cherries.
The Ranches' mainstays today are zinfandel, carrignane and chenin blanc grapes that are sold to local winemakers and almonds that are sold mainly to Blue Diamond for roasting. Their other produce, which is all organically grown, includes selected varieties of cherries, berries, citrus and table grapes. Lagier Ranches sells this produce at farmers' markets and also to Bay Area restaurants, natural food stores and wholesale distributors.
Following the Seasons
The nature of Lagier Ranches' produce makes them a seasonal participant in
San Francisco's Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market on Saturdays:
Market Schedule | |
Mid-May to Mid-July | Blueberries, cherries, blackberries and boysenberries |
Mid-Aug to Mid-Sept | Zinfandel wine grapes and Bronx seedless white concord grapes |
Nov to End-Feb | Satsuma Mandarin oranges, Melogolds and Oroblancos (grapefruit-pummelo hybrids), |
Only at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market
Because the output of Lagier's berries, cherries and citrus is relatively
small, John sells only at the Saturday Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. If he has a
particularly prolific harvest, you might also find them at the Tuesday Ferry Plaza
Farmers' Market and occasionally at the Sunday Marin Farmers' Market.
For more information, check out the Lagier Ranches website
http://www.LagierRanches.com.
September 1996 (updated October 1998)
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