Jim Rossi is the third generation at B & R Farms. In 1929 Jim’s grandfather started with 22 acres, planted to prunes, apricots and walnuts. When competition from growers in the Central Valley made prunes unprofitable, Jim’s Dad pulled them out. But he stuck with the apricots, known as ‘cots to local farmers.
Over the years the Rossis have added acreage and some row crops, but Blenheim Apricots are still the star of the show -- a juicy, flavorful, old-fashioned variety. Blenheims are too delicate to ship fresh, but they dry beautifully, with six pounds of fresh apricots becoming only one pound of dried apricots.
Elsie, Jim’s mother, has always been involved with the farm. “I was a tomboy,” she laughs. “I liked driving the tractors and trucks.” Elsie's first experience cutting apricots at a very young age was at her grandfather’s ranch next door to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. Now she sells the B & R apricots at a number of local farmers markets and has a very loyal clientele. The Rossis’ sons Philip, Scott and Brian also help out.
Mari Rossi married into this farming family. “The closest I had come to farming before I married Jim was that my father owned a tractor dealership," she laughs. “I take care of the office, the sales and the marketing. A family farm takes the complete devotion and hard work of all of us.”
“In 1981 I started selling apricots from the trunk of our car,” Mari remembers. Then she came up with some new packaging ideas and developed a mail order business, adding chutneys and toppings made with the intense flavors of their dried apricots. “All of our preserves and toppings are from my mother’s and my mother-n-law’s recipes. The gift packages are all named after members of our family.”
“People like to know where their food comes from and who’s growing it,” says Mari. “So we welcome visitors on weekdays. And we’re happy to arrange tours for groups.”
At one time the Blenheim Apricot was king and San Benito County was its throne. The Rossis are among a small group of farmers in the area working to preserve this special variety. Competition from lower-quality foreign-grown apricots has made that tough, but Jim says, “We’re preserving a tradition. We’re proud of the fact that we’ve figured out ways to help our family farm survive by carving out a niche with our dried fruit and the preserves we make with it.”
“I look back and I’m amazed at what we’ve accomplished,” Mari adds. ”Some things have changed since we got started, but the taste of a sun-dried Blenheim apricot is still a treat.”
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