Friend's Ranches

“Friend” is a family name. Five generations of the Friend family have lived and farmed in Ojai, California (the sixth generation is still too young to have made career decisions, but they do enjoy running amok in the orchards).

We continue to pack tangerines for wholesale markets and pack fruit and juices for farmers’ markets. Since 2007 we have revitalized our mail order business which runs from January through May, during our busy tangerine season. Elmer’s aspiration of having a packinghouse for tangerines lives on as we sell more Ojai tangerines than ever!

Anne, Tony and Emily live on the ranch and run daily operations. George and his family live in Ojai. Lupe and his family continues to live on the ranch and do a majority of the fieldwork as well as helping with sales at the farmers’ markets.

We are spoiled to live in the Ojai valley where we are surrounded by national forests! Coyotes and owls from the forest help control rodents while beneficial insects and bees can forage in both orchards and forestland. Luckily, much of the wildlife in our orchards is beneficial or unproblematic and we manage our orchard edges to encourage wildlife to be part of our farm. We have many bird species, hummingbirds, hawks, roadrunners and owls being our favorites. We also have coyotes and bears (who both like to consume avocados) and an occasional mountain lion or fox. Then there are the multitude of insects including lacewings and praying mantis, many of which we encourage to stick around and deter unwanted pests. We also have our own cats and dogs who enjoy roaming the acres.

We have several pieces of property with different microclimates. Over the years we have learned which varieties prefer which climate. Tangerines are sweetest on our Matilija canyon property; navels do well in the Ojai Valley’s east-end. Each property has its own set of trees and issues which we need to address. Our houses are within the orchards and we constantly walk through the groves looking at how the trees are doing. As a small farm we are able to cater to the needs of each tree independently and are able to treat problems when they arise.