Hooverville Orchards

People

Rachel Hoover and Chris Hoover, with about 5 employees

Farmland

70 acres in El Dorado County, about 130 miles to San Francisco

About

Hooverville Orchards was founded in 1973 when Barbra and James Hoover purchased and re-cultivated an abandoned Bartlett pear farm, where they raised 13 children. The younger Hoover generations have worked to keep the family legacy and dreams alive. Their son Chris has been managing the farm operations since 1980, but recalls working on the farm since the age of five. Chris’s sister Rachel, who owns the land, helped their mother open a bakeshop in the 1990s, where they reduce the farm’s waste by turning excess and “ugly” fruit into baked goods. Hooverville grows over 100 varieties of citrus fruits, pears, apples, stone fruit, and berries, but Chris’ best seller is Asian pears. Chris has dubbed the orchard “Hooverville’s Mountain Grown Orchards,” after their unique location, 1,742 feet up the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The mountains’ cooler nights produce sweeter fruit, but storms and freezing winters can threaten the livelihood of the crops.