Guru Ram Das via Capay Valley Farm Shop

Guru Ram Das Orchards started in 1980 with the purchase of 16.5 acres of empty hillside land in the Capay Valley. At the time, Didar and his wife, Didar Kaur, ran a small vegetarian restaurant in Reno. Didar and his former partner commuted from Reno to the Capay Valley almost every weekend for nine years to keep the orchard they had planted from dying. Eventually, Didar and his wife saved up enough money to build a house and move to the farm. They began farming full- time and selling at the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets twice a week, eventually buying out their two partners. Despite the rough start and poor soils, their farm thrives today. Crops that have to struggle often reward us with immense flavor and hardiness not produced under other circumstances. Didar loves trees. He especially likes that they are always growing. He chooses tree varieties not for early maturity or other market considerations, but for their taste, their color, and their intrigue.