Turlock Fruit Company

We are very excited to be THE supplier of honeydews for the US Open's signature cocktail "The Honey Deuce"! Great writeup in the New York Times:

The U.S. Open Already Has a Winner: the Honey Deuce Cocktail The cherry-blossom-pink vodka concoction is entering its 18th year as the event’s signature drink. And it’s still a cash cow.

We are saddened to announce the passing of Don Smith, 2nd generation farmer/owner/operator of Turlock Fruit Company; and California Agriculture leader for more than a generation. His farming legacy is carried on by his son Steve Smith, grandson Alec Smith, and grandson-in-law Neill Callis.

Donald J. Smith - View Obituary & Service Information Share Memories and Support the Family.

July 4th Holiday Fruit Stand Hours: 8AM-12 NOON!

The 2025 Melon Stand will open Wednesday, June 25th at
500 So. Tully Rd, 95380
Monday-Friday 8am-5pm
Saturday 8am-2pm
Closed Sunday
These beautiful full-slip Western Shipper cantaloupes will be there!

Our 2024 Melon Stand will close for the season on Saturday, September 14, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. Until then we have sweet and delicious Honeydew, Hami, Orangedew, Golden Hami and Cantaloupe. Come by for late summer deliciousness!

The 2024 melon stand will open on TUESDAY, JULY 2nd!
Hours: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday
Watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe and orangedew will be available on opening day. We are located at 500 So. Tully Rd., Turlock, CA 95380. Hope to see you there!

Big thanks to Cindy Carcamo of the LA Times for such a thoughtful and thoroughly researched article on the decline of asparagus. It’s an important story to tell - high California labor costs have driven the acreage outside the country, and other crops are following. It ought to be assigned reading for every new state legislator. Asparagus is a small part of our farming activities from an acreage (and revenue..) POV, but the decline broke a lot of multi-generational family-operated asparagus farms in California, and put a lot of people out of work.

Fast-growing asparagus once flourished on California farms. Why is it disappearing? At the turn of the 21st century, California growers were farming more than 36,000 acres of asparagus. Now, fewer than 3,000 acres are in production in the state for commercial sale. These are the last three farms.

Our 2023 melon stand will close for the season tomorrow,
Saturday, September 16th at 2:00 p.m. We're open today until 5:00 p.m. and have the sweetest honeydew, cantaloupe, orangedew, and golden Hami! Come and get some before they're gone!

https://www.kcet.org/shows/americas-heartland/clip/turlock-cantelope-zpy7cf

Last summer, the PBS show "America's Heartland" came out to the ranch in Firebaugh, and interviewed Alec Smith, Steve Smith, and Neill Callis for an episode which aired last night - you can stream the episode below. They did a GREAT job capturing the essence and flavor of what melon season is all about!

Sweet Cantaloupes Cantaloupes make a sweet treat, picked and packed right off the vine.

We will be open 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. on the 4th of July 2023! We'll have cantaloupes, sugar baby watermelons, mini watermelons and the incomparable Orangedew!!!
Happy 4th of July!

Our minis feed a couple … our sugar babies feed a family … both available at the melon stand on July 3rd, 8-5 at 500 So Tully Rd, Turlock 95380