Wendy and I met in college at Cal Poly, San Luis Obisbo in 1993. We married after graduation and moved back to the family farm in 1997. I farmed with my Dad who taught me valuable production practices unique to Central California. In 2001, I began farming pima cotton and alfalfa seed on rented land adjacent to my family’s homestead located in Tranquillity, California.
Over the next years, I made the decision to integrate new farming technologies including water-saving drip irrigation and efficient GPS tracking for the tractors. The farm expanded and we were now growing mostly “truck crops” including processing tomatoes, cotton, wheat, onions, and alfalfa. These changes proved successful and the farm was now efficiently producing and selling quality products.
Then, in 2009, using the techniques that I had learned through years of farming the “truck crops,” I started growing high quality, organic watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, squash, bell peppers, heirloom tomatoes and more. These products are now sold exclusively under the “Riverbend Fresh” label from our local facility in Tranquillity to wholesale and retail outlets across the U.S. Wendy and I also made the decision to start making wine with grapes from local vineyards. The winery is considered a labor of love for us and we focus heavily on providing a quality, hand-made on the farm wine at a great value for the table.
