Citrus, Veggies & Flowers
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
How it all began:
Annie Bowler grew up in a Valencia orange orchard in Ojai, California, where she developed a deep appreciation for the beauty and aroma of citrus groves. John worked in a citrus orchard while in college and discovered a passion and a natural talent for farming.
Placer County has long been celebrated for its mandarins, but John and Annie noticed that many local orchards remained hidden from public view. Inspired to create a more accessible space for the community to enjoy, they decided to plant their own orchard. Their vision led to the creation of the Flower Farm.
The Bowlers planted six acres of citrus, including Mandarins, Navels, Blood Oranges, Valencia, and Meyer Lemons, along with an acre of Malbec grapes, and a wide variety of other fruit trees. This wide range of citrus crops has allowed the Flower Farm to sell citrus from November through midsummer. The Flower Farm will sell 30,000 pounds of citrus in the ’25-26 season. That’s a lot of fruit!
Some of our citrus is sold through the Café and the Gift Shop. Still, a significant portion goes to the Tahoe Food Hub for distribution in the Tahoe region and to Produce Express, which delivers it to Sacramento region restaurants. Additionally, our blood orange juice is sold to several local breweries, including Granite Bay Brewing and Mindscape Fermentations.
Speaking of sweet aromas, each spring when Flower Farm Citrus trees are blossoming, bee hives arrive and pollinate our trees, which of course makes honey. It’s fun to watch bees at work, but do be careful!
Today, Madeline Faeth and the Café staff maintain a prolific vegetable garden at the Flower Farm’s front pasture, which provides fresh ingredients for both the Café and Farmhaus in Granite Bay.
We are excited that Jessica Porter and Meleya Walker, the owners of the Flower Farm Gift Shop, now offer a You-Pick Flower Field that is open from mid-May through late fall.
We at the Flower Farm are deeply committed to environmental stewardship. We utilize solar energy as much as possible; solar panels cover the south side of our Events Barn as well as the café storage structure. We utilize sustainable farming practices and recycle and compost daily. Our kitchens prioritize estate-grown or locally sourced ingredients as much as possible. We have planted mainly drought-tolerant, bee, birds, and butterfly-friendly plants and use low-water irrigation methods throughout the Flower Farm.
We encourage our guests to enjoy our orchards, but do not pick any fruit, as picking incorrectly hurts future production. Please purchase our fruit in the Café or gift shop!
Please encourage your children to be respectful of all our plants and trees; they should not pick fruit either. Let’s teach our young ones to be good stewards of our land as well! Thank you for your cooperation!
The Flower Farm offers yoga, gardening workshops, and many art and craft classes. See our calendar and the Gift Shop website for the latest details. The Flower Farm, it’s where memories are made!
