Meet Lynn & Sally Shafer
As is so often the case with growers, Lynn and Sally Shafer’s passion for organic farming began at a young age. For Lynn, the interest was kindled by working on farms in Northern California during his college summers, and for Sally it started when she saw her father cultivating a bountiful vegetable garden at their home in the Puget Sound. Both observed the lasting value, beauty, and satisfaction that comes from growing food, and when given the opportunity to try their hand at cultivating their own farm in 1981, they took it.
The Organic Difference
The couple started out farming olives and citrus, and currently grow organic navel oranges, organic mandarins, and an impressive six different organic blueberry varieties. Their fruit looks out over the Sierra Nevada mountains in Central California, and Lynn and Sally are able to grow organically by teaming with nature’s honey bee pollinators, grasses, and rich San Joaquin soils.
There is so much hard work that goes into organic agriculture, and as the Shafers explained, “Farming is not for the fainthearted; you have to be able to make it through a few bad years…The weather always keeps you humble.” Nonetheless, the two are consistently ready to rise to the occasion, and that is due largely to the wonderful life lessons farming has taught them and the connections it has provided.
Organic Life on the Farm
“This is a wonderful life. It’s a wonderful place to raise your children. It teaches them a lot of things you want to teach them – hard work, and being honest, and realizing that nature is a lot stronger than you are,” Sally explained. Similarly for Lynn, as he has grown older, much of the enjoyment comes from the silence on the farm. “I like the silence. The silence, to me, is a renewing thing, and I listen to it more as I grow older,” he said.
Homegrown Organic Farms is proud to partner with passionate growers like Lynn and Sally Shafer. Thanks to growers like them, we are able to enjoy delicious organic fruits like blueberries and citrus! Keep an eye out for their organic blueberries during the spring months and organic citrus varieties that are in season during the winter months. And when biting into that fresh fruit, remember the hard work and passion that went into growing it from tree to your table.
To meet more organic growers like Lynn and Sally, visit our growers page! Still looking for more? Follow all the social conversations on our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.