Frank and Bernice Aguilar began their adventure in 1943 when they Married and started a 50-acre farming operation in the small Placer County town of Penryn, California. Initially the farm consisted of plum, pear and peach trees along with a few mandarins that had been planted in 1880s by Welsh settlers. In the early 1950s a tree disease hit Placer County and killed pear trees all over the region. Farmers across the county uprooted and burned the dead trees. In 1956, the Aguilars decided to replace their trees with mandarins. The couple planted mandarin trees for the next seven years until their 20-acre mandarin orchard was complete. These were hard years for the young couple since it takes mandarin trees six or seven years before they produced sellable fruit. By now they had two children, Tom and Susan, who helped tend the trees after school, and Bernice took a job with the State. The years passed and their kids and trees both grew. They found few people in the area had ever heard of mandarins, so they shipped most of the fruit to a Sacramento wholesaler and began giving away the sweet citrus to local friends to help spread the word about this easy-to-peel, healthy treat. Soon people started buying them not just for themselves, but also as gifts. In 1972, one December night got so cold the water pipes, irrigation ponds and mandarin trees all froze. The next day hundreds of mandarin trees were lost. Being intrepid farmers, the family started replanting the next spring. Along with new trees, they installed an overhead irrigation system, which serves a dual purpose of watering and helping to control frost. Now that Frank and Bernice have passed away, their son Tom and his family oversee the day-to-day operations. Tom’s innovative ideas such as adding solar panels on the packing house and using social media has helped keep the ranch modern. Stop by soon for a visit and start making some orchard adventures for your family.
