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Christyna, Savannah, and Serena – the 3 daughters of Nacho and Cassi
Ready or not, it’s time to make way for the first citrus of the season! We can hardly believe how quickly this year has gone by! The juicy Valencia oranges in this week’s box are courtesy of our friends at Twin Girls Farm. Twin Girls Farm provides us with delicious fruit throughout the fall and winter months and it is with pleasure that we introduce them to our Frog Hollow family!
Twin Girls Farm is located in Cutler, California, about 45 minutes southeast of Fresno and it is home to Nacho, his wife Casamira (better known as Cassi), and their three daughters (Christyna, Serena, and Savannah). Christyne and Serena are Nacho and Cassi’s twin daughters in which the farm is rightfully named after!
Both Nacho and Cassi have been surrounded by farming as long as they can remember. Their parents were farm laborers that worked hard to cultivate the land. Growing up, Nacho would help his father in the fields on weekends with harvesting and other labor tasks. There he learned many skills that he still uses today. Cassi and Nacho grew up with each other and are actually high school sweethearts!
After graduating from Fresno State with a B.S. in Agriculture, Nacho went to work for the County Agriculture Department. As an Agriculture Inspector, Nacho had access to packing houses and began to learn more about the different fruit varieties that grew well in the area. Although Nacho enjoyed his time as an Ag Inspector, he missed being out in the fields. In 1989, Cassi and Nacho purchased a 6 acre orchard and they began to farm on the side in their spare time. Since then, their orchard has grown to over 600 acres and Nacho is now farming full time while Cassi does the administrative work for the farm. They are currently growing stone fruit, citrus, pomegranates, kiwis, and persimmons and are constantly testing out new varieties and types of fruit.
Nacho and Cassi started out as conventional farmers while Nacho was still working for the Agriculture Department. Nacho’s father and mother would help out in the orchard, but Nacho’s father was sensitive to the chemicals being used on the trees and would always come back with rashes. From that point on, Nacho recognized the importance of organic farming and began to incorporate organic practices into his farming. Twin Girls Farm farmed organically for over 10 years before actually becoming a Certified Organic farm. They are now farm fully organic and are constantly seeking and learning new methods to improve their organic farming. Like Frog Hollow, Twin Girls incorporates any unsold fruit back into their soil to reduce their food waste.
We at Frog hollow are thankful for Twin Girls Farm’s hard work and dedication to sustainable farming. We are happy to support them and their mission by purchasing their fruit for our CSA members to enjoy. Once you taste one of their delicious oranges we think you will be too!
