Hooverville Orchards

About

Chris, sibling number six, manages the fruit operation to fill demand in the bake shop and all across California at farmer’s markets — held in Placerville, Sacramento, El Dorado Hills, Elk Grove, Lake Tahoe and San Francisco. Sick of farming, Chris planned to go into law enforcement. He joined the Army to escape the family business but, when his father, Jim, had a heart attack in 1979 and contemplated selling the Orchard, Chris decided to come home and help out. He’s been managing the Orchard since 1980 and every year he has added new fruit and new varieties to keep up with a changing market and to extend his fruit harvest throughout the year. Rachel, number seven of thirteen, just recently fulfilled a lifelong dream of keeping the farm in the family by purchasing it from her mother. It’s a sort of rite of passage in the family — now including upwards of over fifty grandchildren/great grandchildren – and growing, to rapidly call off all the family members in order of oldest to youngest: Pamela, Michael, Pat, Cindy, Connie, Chris, Rachel, Robbie, Dorothy, George, Susan, Barbara, and John.

Products

Apples, Blueberries, Blackberries, Oranges, Lemons, Cherries

Farming Practices

When Hooverville Orchards first started, the Hoovers took their fruit to the Placerville Fruit Growers Association for packing and shipping, like most other growers in the county. “But we were only making 5-7 cents a pound that way, so we looked for a way to sell directly to the consumer like Apple Hill,” says Chris. “We were too far away from the Apple Hill growers to be part of them and we couldn’t put signs up on a state highway to let people know where we were, so we got together with about 10 growers from this area and formed the El Dorado Farm Trails. Now the Farm Trails has expanded to include the whole county and it helps all the farms to get the word out.”
Hoover was instrumental in getting the El Dorado County Right to Farm Ordinance passed, expanding the agricultural rights of farmers and allowing for noise, dust and chemical sprays related to agriculture.
This year, Hoover hopes in having huge, beautiful fruit unmarked by hail or freezes. “We are in what’s called the banana belt here — we’re in the warmest site in the county,” said Hoover. “The winds are warm and we have hot days and cool nights.” This combination makes all El Dorado County fruit higher in sugar content and firmer in texture than valley grown fruit and Hoover says people are willing to pay premium prices for mountain grown fruit.

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