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Blake Mauritson comes from a long line of winegrape growers. Now he helps grow citrus fruit.
Deep roots Mauritson’s ancestor, S.P. Hallengren, emigrated from Sweden in 1860 and settled in Sonoma County. “Still farming from the Hallengren lineage are my father, uncle andmy three brothers and one sister,” Mauritson said of his family, most of whom still farmwinegrapes in Sonoma County. “There are currently 11 grandchildren, making the seventh generation waiting to take on this century’s challenges and triumphs.”
In the grove Growing lemons is anything but a sour business for Blake Mauritson
Story and photo by Kevin Hecteman
When life hands Blake Mauritson lemons, he makes a living. The sixth-generation farmer grows lemons and other kinds of citrus fruit in the fittingly named Tulare County town of Lemon Cove—both on his own and for his wife’s family. From those foothills east of Visalia, on the road to the Sequoia National Forest, the lemons Mauritson helps bring to market can end up anywhere from the café down the street to Asia to anywhere in between. California had 47,000 acres of lemon groves in 2019, producing 700,000 pounds of the fruit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Besides Lemon Cove and other parts of the Central Valley, you’ll find commercial lemon groves along the coast of Southern California, mainly in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
Year-round bounty “We are basically picking citrus from October to July every year,” Mauritson said. “We start with lemons in October and finish sometime in early March. Shortly after starting lemons, we start in on early navel varieties. Navels and specialties will continue until April or May, market depending.”
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March/April 2021
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