Worked by the Hubbard family since 1969.

In 1969 my dad, Jack Hubbard, started Hubbard Dairy here in Orland with his mother. It was never easy. He did trucking work, did whatever it took to keep the place going, and raised a family of four along the way. I grew up watching him and working alongside him, and most of what I know about hard work I learned right here.

From dairy to orchard

In 2016 we started over. We deep ripped the ground five feet down with a D10 dozer, twelve inches at a pass. We drilled a well, put in sprinklers, and planted the first trees that fall: Nonpareil, with Monterey and Aldrich as pollinizers. Once the trees were in, the old dairy facilities came out. My bulldog Harley rode along on the side-by-side through most of those early seasons.

The people who made it work

Nobody plants an orchard alone. My Aunt Tammy runs the day-to-day. Paul Martin and his sons, and Steve Neil of Duarte Farms, walked us through the early years when we had more questions than answers. Tim with Scientific Methods keeps a close eye on the trees as our PCA.

Every season

The orchard blooms every February, and every fall we shake, sweep, and haul the crop to be hulled here in Glenn County. Some years are better than others. That's farming. The Farm Journal is where I'll share how each season goes.

Joe Hubbard