Now trademarked Rudy’s Original Boysenberries, Boysen Berry Farm’s berries are not the typical commercially available boysenberries. They come from the original vines her grand- father planted nearly 100 years ago along a creek bed on a Napa prune orchard he managed. Boysen Fitzgerald and her husband, Tom Fitzgerald, grow 2,400 of these heritage vines on their 10-acre plot, half of which they lease to alfalfa growers. Just a few years ago, the longtime special education teacher and her husband were living in Las Vegas and could have never predicted their current life. The story began in June 2016 when Boysen Fitzgerald got a phone call. It was from Chris Jepsen, a historian for the Orange County Archives, who was co-writing an article with Anaheim historian Steve Faessel about her grandfather and the history of the boysenberry. The pair were hoping to get family stories and information from her—but it’s what she learned from them that set in motion a chain of events that led the couple to retire, uproot from Las Vegas and become farmers in California. She didn’t know much about her grandfather’s history, in part because he had suffered a terrible fall that led to health problems and he died young, before she was born. She knew he had developed the boysenberry in Napa and had moved to Orange County, where he became the Anaheim City Parks superintendent. She also knew he had provided some vines to Walter Knott, founder of Knott’s Berry Farm, who made the berry famous. But she didn’t know her great-uncle had dug up one of her grandfather’s original vines and planted it at his home. “I had photos of my grandmother eating from that backyard vine, but I didn’t know the significance of that,” Boysen Fitzgerald said. “And I didn’t know it had been kept in the family.” Following a lead from a 1958 Napa Valley Register article, Jepsen had tracked down Alice Masek of Castro Valley, a Boysen family member growing an original vine (a fact later confirmed by DNA testing). Boysen Fitzgerald contacted Masek, who gave her some vine cuttings. Boysen Fitzgerald credits her husband for encouraging her to pursue growing the vines on a large scale. “Tom said, ‘You know, Nettie, this is your heritage. You need to embrace this.’” Her destiny was confirmed when an old friend offered Boysen Fitzgerald growing space in her San Diego County vineyard, free of charge.
Launching a business She started with 24 vines, naming each after a family member or friend, and repeatedly made the five-hour drive from Las Vegas to care for the patch. By November 2017, the couple had propagated more than 950 starts and needed a larger space. Their search eventually landed them on their Orland plot, christened on Feb. 16, 2018. The couple took turns making the 10-hour drive from Las Vegas while waiting for their home to sell. The following October, they moved into a fifth-wheel RV on the farm, with plans to build a home as soon as they “have time.” The house may have to wait a while. They’ve also started a boysenberry product line of jam, sauce and syrup. The two make all the products themselves in a commercial kitchen in Chico during the evenings after Boysen Fitzgerald gets home from her job as a teacher’s aide. Next up is expanding their nursery business so heritage vines can proliferate. Eventually, they plan to double their growing space by planting on the 5 acres they are now leasing out. Come and get ’em The public can buy some vine starts as well as Rudy’s Original jam and syrup at this year’s U-pick, a program they started in 2019. It is expected to run daily from May 14 until early June. Admission is free and berries are $6 a pound. Visitors will be greeted with tips on picking the perfect berry and a bucket lined with a bag to take the berries home in. They will find berries with an intense, complex flavor that
“I was, of course, very excited about having a chance to grow these vines,” Boysen Fitzgerald said.
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