About Us

In 1932, Great Grandpa Merle and Great Grandma Mary purchased the land that is Hummingbird Ridge Farm. The 52 acres, nestled in the golden foothills of Somerset California, was their home, walnut orchard, and livestock pasture. The orchard was planted in the mid 1930’s, and four generations of family farmers have tended the walnut trees since.

The orchard is dryfarmed; the only water provided for the trees comes from annual rainfall. Prior to the 1950s, dryfarming was a standard in California agriculture. Since then, due to increased yields from irrigation and the move towards large-scale agriculture, dryfarming has become a rare practice. Today, we continue the heritage practice of dryfarming, and the result is an incredibly unique walnut with a flavor unlike any other.

Throughout the last decade, the increasingly severe drought in California has become a focal concern. The dwindling rainfall has pushed us to adapt our farming systems and move toward regenerative management practices. Since 2018 we have adopted new practices that build resiliency for our orchard ecosystem by nurturing the biology within the soil.

After harvest in the fall, we spread compost and worm castings throughout the orchard, and sow a cover crop before the first rain. The diverse cover crop grows over winter until we mow it down in the spring. By cover cropping, we are able to keep a living root in the soil for nearly half the year, and cover the ground with a green mulch layer in the spring. Winter prunings that were previously burned are now wood chipped and spread onto the orchard floor. Our goal is to build organic matter, improve the soil’s capacity to absorb and store water, increase the nutrients available for the trees, and decrease runoff during heavy rainfall events. So far we have seen great results!

Every season we are experimenting with new ways to keep water in the ground, build soil, and develop the resiliency of our agricultural ecosystem at Hummingbird Ridge Farm. Some of the things we are planning for next season include integrating grazers into a silvopasture system, transitioning to a no-till approach, and cutting contoured swales to catch rainfall.

Farming is a journey that we are so grateful to be a part of. Join us in the adventure!