Local Grow­ers

Over 2 decades ago, farm­ers Nicholas and Bil­lie Jean Salle bought a dete­ri­o­rat­ing 60-​year old wal­nut orchard. They knew it required a costly invest­ment of effort and resources to bring it up to peak pro­duc­tion, but they also knew that the fer­tile soil under the trees – a nutrient-​rich river bot­tom – had the poten­tial to grow abun­dant, high-​quality fruits and vegetables.

Today, Salle Orchards is a fam­ily owned and oper­ated farm located on 70 acres in Sut­ter and Yuba Coun­ties. With approx­i­mately 3,500 trees, Salle Orchards is one of the small­est farms in the Wheat­land, Cal­i­for­nia area. The acreage is planted with 4 vari­eties of Eng­lish wal­nuts and the orchard con­tains an expan­sive vari­ety of fruit.

Pro­duce grown by the Salle fam­ily can be found at farm­ers’ mar­kets in Placer, Sacra­mento and Nevada Coun­ties as well as at their own onsite fruit stand.

The neglected, run­down orchard is now thriv­ing, thanks to the stren­u­ous, yet reward­ing, work of Nick, Bil­lie Jean and their children.

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