Andy Mariani still tends to his apricot, peach, cherry and plum orchards in Morgan Hill, California. But the transformation from rural to urban has changed the way all local growers do their work. This wonderful photo is by Los Altan Yvonne Cornell for Edible Silicon Valley Magazine.
I first got to know grower Andy Mariani, along with local orchard legends Deborah Olson and her father Charles, when I was working on my book California Apricots: the Lost Orchards of Silicon Valley for the History Press in 2012. Knowing them, and meeting the orchardist at the National Trust home Filoli in Woodside, California, came in handy when Edible Silicon Valley magazine came calling.
My friend Catherine Nunes is the publisher of Edible Silicon Valley and she asked for a story on how orchardists were re-imagining their businesses in the changing environment of our booming region.
