CAMINO, Calif. — It's that time of year again in Apple Hill. Everywhere you look you'll find traffic, long lines and of course, apples.
Those who live in the Sacramento Valley probably have heard of Apple Hill, but did you know the apple-rich area was once known for pears?
These days, Apple Hill brings people from cities and onto farms to buy produce directly from the source. That experience is often called "agritourism," but when the Apple Hill Growers Association formed in 1964, attracting tourists was simply a last-ditch effort to save the farming community of Camino from a devastating pear blight.
“We went from 60,000 tons of pears a year to 10 in just a year or two," says Gene Larsen, owner of Larsen's Apple Barn and Family Museum.
Larsen says pears were king in Camino before blight wiped them out in the late 1950s. To save their businesses, 16 farmers in the area banded together and copied what Southern California farmers in Oak Glen were doing, which was to turn farms into attractions.
“We figured it had been successful elsewhere so why not try it here,” Larsen says.
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It took time, but eventually, the pear trees were replaced by apple trees. Today, the association has grown from 16 original farms to over 50 including Christmas tree growers, wineries, and vineyards.
Gene Larsen's son Raymond is living proof that turning farms into attractions worked. The fifth-generation apple farmer now grows dozens of varieties of apples, and even a few pears.
“We are cutting out the middlemen — the grocery stores," Raymond Larsen says. "I mean, who wants to have a picnic at a grocery store?”
The Larsen orchard includes a Rhode Island Greening apple tree, which is believed to be the oldest apple tree in El Dorado County.
When told that the tree's apples are ok, but that there are better-tasting apples in the orchard, Raymond laughs. “Ha! Yes there are,” he says.
Apple Hill's roots grow deep in Camino, so the next time you're there enjoying a slice of hot apple pie, stop by the Larsen Family Museum and pay your respects to the creative and resilient farmers who saved the town by attracting hordes of city folk to their farms for all these many years.
MORE FRUITY GOODNESS FROM THE BACKROADS: How one man's hobby led to the success of one of California's most popular theme parks.
