CRUISING A PATH THROUGH BUTTE COUNTY’S CROPS, ORCHARDS AND WINERIES.
Farmers’ markets and local growers provide tourist stops and edibles along Sierra Oro Farm Trail
Squint and you could be in Umbria in spring. Silver-gray olive trees sway across the rumpled landscape. Emerald squares of horse, cow and goat pastures are trimmed by tidy rows of vineyards, just unfurling their mintgreen leaves beneath a broad sweep of blue.
“We’ve got such abundance up here in Butte County, and it’s beautiful, but people just head north on I-5 and have no idea that we’re even here,” says Jamie Johansson, looking out across this bucolic, Italianesque vista, which happens to include his own family’s 2,000-tree olive orchard.
Back in 2005, Johansson, along with his wife, Nicole, and a handful of other local farmers, set out to change all that. Together they decided to create the Sierra Oro Farm Trail, aimed at getting more people to visit this productive pocket of the northern Gold Country.
“Our first year, we had just six farms,” notes Nicole. “Now we’ve got over 30 participating farms, orchards and businesses, including rice farms, vineyards, ranches, Mandarin groves, even chestnut orchards.”
Though the farm trail’s Passport Weekend (Oct. 6-7 this year) is the main event, many farms and businesses welcome visitors year-round. Some are fine with drop-ins; others require reservations. For a map and descriptions, visit the farm trail’s website (www.sierraoro.org). Or get a free printed map by calling the Butte County Farm Bureau at (530) 533-1473.
To get you started, here are eight Butte County farms, vineyards and related businesses welcoming guests year-round. Be sure to check websites for hours before you go.
Harrison’s California Chestnuts (Gridley): “Most people think you have to go to the East Coast to get fresh chestnuts,” notes Sandy Harrison, who lives at and co-runs her 10-acre orchard. “Well, we grow them in California, and they are very, very good.” Low in fat, high in fiber and gluten-free, Sandy calls them “the ultimate healthy gourmet food.” Lateblooming chestnuts send out tassels of greenish-white flowers in late April and May; fruits ripen in fall. By appointment only; (530) 846-5707; www.californiachestnuts.com Lodestar Farms (Oroville): Learn about the history of California’s Mission olives, brought to the state centuries ago by Franciscan padres, and how they thrive here in Butte County. At this family-run orchard in the hills east of Oroville, farmer Jamie Johansson harvests his olives late, allowing them to produce a distinctively smooth and buttery flavor that’s a trademark of Butte County olive oil. Enjoy samples in the tasting and gift room. (Be sure to dunk your bread in the oils flavored with lemons or Mandarins from the farm’s own trees.) Then head back outside to join the trio of tow-headed Johansson kids to help gather fresh eggs from the farm’s 30 chickens. Open Friday-Sunday or by appointment; 3719 Foothill Blvd., Oroville; (530) 534-6548; www.lodestarfarms.com
Long Creek Winery & Ranch (Oroville): In spring and summer, get a nice leg-stretch on a self-guided tour of this 26-acre vineyard in the gently rolling hills east of Oroville. Step into the on-site tasting room to sample Long Creek’s Syrah, Zinfandel and other varietals. Also sample the estate’s virgin olive oils. In fall, come back to walk through the citrus grove and pick your own sweet Mandarins, which thrive in the Butte County hills. Weekends only; (530) 589-3415; www.longcreekwinery.com
Lundberg Family Farms (Richvale): There’s nothing small about this family farm west of Oroville. It’s a massively impressive operation, with vast rice ponds, bustling processing
and packaging facilities, and entire buildings focusing on how to grow more nutritious and productive organic grains. Step inside the visitor’s center to learn how the Lundbergs started growing rice here in 1937, and about the family’s commitment to environmental sustainability and responsible stewardship. The on-site shop is a cornucopia of Lundberg products, including rice, quinoa, snacks, crackers and sweets. (Warning: The organic baked grain bites with aged Parmesan are flat-out addictive.) Closed weekends. 5311 Midway, Richvale; (530) 538-3500; www.lundberg.com
Almendra Winery & Distillery (Durham): Step into this impressive, Mission-style compound just south of Chico to sample flights of Italian-style wines under the Almendra and Bertagna Son-Kissed labels, all using grapes from Burton and Carol Bertagna’s certified organic vineyards. The couple also pour distinctive distilled spirits under their Monkey Face and Harvest labels; don’t miss the smoothly sip-able gin, flavored with locally grown almonds, lavender, rosemary and Mandarins. Tastings Wednesday-Sunday. 9275 Midway, Durham; (530) 343-6893; www.almendrawinery.com
Patrick Ranch Museum (Durham): Tour an 1877 farmhouse, visit carefully tended gardens and farm plots, and see how life was run on a family farm more than a century ago. Docents and exhibits at this 30-acre ranch just south of Chico aim to preserve and share the agricultural history of the northern Sacramento Valley. 10381 Midway, Durham; (530) 342-4359; www.patrickranchmuseum.org
Maisie Jane’s California Sunshine Products (Chico): Maisie Jane Bertagno was only a junior in high school when she decided to use her mom’s recipe for Tamari Almonds, using nuts from her family’s Chico-area orchards, as a Future Farmers of America
project. Needless to say they went over big. Before she was 20, she had outgrown her mom’s kitchen, set up a commercial kitchen, and was on her way to creating a wildly successful food business. Now Maisie Jane (now Hertado) has hundreds of her locally produced products sold at Whole Foods and other outlets as well as online. The hometown success story has a chic oldtimey shop on the south side of town, where you can sample roasted and flavored nuts, nutty brittles and candies, honeys and nut butters. (Cashew butter is a top seller right now). Open Monday-Saturday; (530) 592-3143; www.maisie janes.com Noble Orchards (Paradise): OK, you have to wait until July to visit the last apple farm still operating along the rugged Paradise Ridge east of Chico. But it’s worth the wait. Though nearly 20 apple orchards once thrived here, the Nobles are the last ones still in business, and it’s a good thing they are. These are truly outstanding apples, particularly the snappy-sweet Pink Ladies. Choose from 25 varieties of apples, plus stone fruits and products including apple crisps and apple butter, all sold in Grandpa Noble’s 87-year-old packing shed. Open daily mid-July through February.