“I would say the customers are actually the best part—just talking to them. They’re from everywhere,” said Isabella Sanchez, the Bremmers’ 21-year-old daughter, who bakes the pies. “I’ve met people from Russia, Ukraine. I’ve met the pilot for the (Los Angeles) Chargers football. You meet everybody, and they’re from all over and they have different accents and it’s just interesting to see where they’re traveling.” Monica Sankey, executive manager of the Colusa County Farm Bureau, is a lifelong resident who visits Bremmer’s Farm each season. “As soon as you pop into the driveway, they’re there waiting for you, ready to help. They’ve got pies, they’ve got jams, they’ve got f lats of apricots. You can buy them by the box, by the f lat, by the crate,” Sankey said. The family also grows and sells almonds. Becoming a farmer Bremmer didn’t plan to be a farmer. He was living in Sacramento and wanted a bigger space for his growing family. He saw an ad for an apricot farm in the local newspaper in 2002, drove out to take a look—and made an offer the same day. “I did not have a background in farming, but I was adventurous and figured, how hard could it be to take care of it?” said Bremmer, who attended business school and approached running the farm like operating a small business. “(But) the first few years were definitely a learning experience. We had to figure out harvest and also figure out taking care of the trees.” The orchard was already established by the former owners, who had it for nearly 20 years. Their crew helped Bremmer learn how to harvest, prune the trees and provide them with the proper nutrients. Apricots are one of the earliest-ripening stone fruits in California. Start ing in February through March, the white blossoms appear, then small buds emerge. When the fruit ripens, crews pick it by hand. “We try to pick only what is ripe. If it is not ripe, we try to leave the fruit until it ripens. We may go through and pick a tree four or five different times while we are waiting for the fruit to ripen. When the apricots are picked, they are put right into the box for purchase,” Bremmer said. Apricots, which originated in China, were
The Bremmer family gathers in their orchard: from left, Isabella Sanchez, Darius Bremmer, Jason Bremmer, Shaila Orozco and Claudia Bremmer. Claudia and daughter Isabella slice dozens of apricots a day to make fresh-baked pies, below.
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May/June 2021
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