South County’s very own Andy Mariani – a second generation stone fruit grower whose 1957 orchard thrived long enough to see the surrounding region transform from “Valley of the Heart’s Delight” to Silicon Valley – is featured in a colorful eight-page spread of this month’s Sunset Magazine.
Dubbed “the flavor king” in the article that spotlights 67-year-old Mariani and his magical country oasis tucked away at the end of a persimmon-lined driveway on Half Road in Morgan Hill, the veteran grower is happy with the story, save for “some old farmer impersonating me,” he jokes, referring to his photograph in the magazine.
Self deprecation aside, Mariani’s work zeal lives up to the nickname Sunset gives him. His passion for fruity perfection done right is obvious while explaining – during a casual phone conversation Friday afternoon – the public’s common misconception of a ripe peach.
For example: If you’re the kind of shopper who reaches for the blush-kissed peach, you’re going about it wrong, according to Mariani.
All wrong.
“That beautiful bright blush that supermarket peaches have means nothing,” he insists. “People associate redness with ripeness, but really the reverse is true.”
The reality, Mariani continues, is that peaches touting the attractive red and orange hues “are actually being picked green,” meaning they’re plucked prematurely from the branches. A yellow peach without the blush, alternately – “that’s when you can tell it’s being picked right,” he says.
This month’s magazine feature in Sunset – which “shares the best of life in the West” and boasts nearly five million readers according to its website – paints Mariani as a fading breed of farmer; a “hero” who champions “fruit grown for pure, mind-blowing flavor” and goes against the grain of commercially grown fruit, where “the economic incentive is to grow pretty fruit with high shelf life.”
A noted fruit expert for the California Rare Fruit Growers organization, Mariani “may have amassed the largest private collection of fruit in the country” with an upwards of 300 varieties – many of them rare and grown solely by Mariani – according to Sunset.
The weathered farmer rattles off a handful of his exotic edible offerings, such as the Alameda Hemskirk apricot, a 1920s strain from England; the “very small” Green Gage plum (less than a half dozen growers in California produce this variety with “fantastic flavor,” according to Mariani, who says the Green Gage used to be the most popular dessert plum in all of Europe); and his signature peach, the Baby Crawford, which has “everything you’d want in a peach – just chin-dripping juice, fantastic texture, very rich, peachy flavor,” Mariani describes.
For locals who have yet to visit his operation, Andy’s Orchard is a nostalgic gem and aims to give visitors the true agritourism experience – or, in Mariani’s words, “not the dog and pony show type of thing.”
In addition to a homestead-looking onsite storefront featuring a confectionery dream of high-quality dried fruits, gourmet treats, chocolate goodies and nuts, the working orchard offers special fruit tastings of more than 70 varieties along with guided harvest walks with a focus on education and history of the Santa Clara Valley. Mariani’s onsite retail wonderland exudes a bucolic, general store feel with shelves of artisan preserves and old-timey signage decorating the interior.
With urban sprawl creeping up around his rustic property, which channels a bygone era of when Santa Clara Valley was once the largest fruit production and packing region in the world, Mariani isn’t 100 percent certain of his farm’s future.
But he keeps a lighthearted outlook in the interim.
“You’ll have to pry my cold, dead body off the tractor,” he chuckles.
