Introduction

Hi I'm Billie Jean Salle, of Salle Orchards. My husband Nicholas and I own and operate a beautiful small farm in Wheatland , CA which is approximately 35 miles northeast of Sacramento.

We are absolutely in love with the dirt we live on and are very proud of what we do for a living – farming. However it is a constant uphill battle to survive. We are always challenged with the elements and especially lately the economy. It seems we have all kinds of ideas and dreams of where we would like to take the business but we just can't get ahead enough financially to expand our product line.

Gardening between the walnut trees

Being our land is planted with trees, we are committed to the crops we already have, but what we can do with those crops is our future. Our dream to saving our livelihood is in our Value Added Products (VAP) line. With a small grant from the Western SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant program, we are expanding into new territory. We are going to be sun drying some of our tree fruits and candying our walnuts. I will share our experiences, success and failures with you on this learning journey, and hopefully help you to expand your profitability and decrease your losses as well.

peach blossoms