Three Day Ranch

Sycamores Seven Ranch offers farm stay

The drive up and down California's San Joaquin Valley can be tedious, but keep in mind a stop on the way in Visalia. Seven sycamores Rancho is offering a sort of bed and breakfast in a real farm experience.

The farm is what you call it – the mix of tourism with the vast farmlands and orchards of California to offer the city a popular view about how an orange, for example, get the tree to the dining table. With its location outside Visalia, Seven sycamore is in a good position to break that long journey between the cities of northern and southern California.

Bob McKellar is Seven host of sycamore and somewhat of a visionary in the field of rural tourism. Some years when he was just 75 years, McKellar decided it was time to find a way to sell some of its orange crop packaged outside the usual channels shed tend to eat up the profits of the producer. He joined a national organization and found that in some places, farmers had begun "CSA – community supported agriculture programs – to cut out some middlemen and taken directly fruit to consumers. Today, McKellar sells a significant portion of their crop for hundreds of containers of fruit baskets delivered to local customers regularly.

Then McKellar began to think about the producers in other parts of the country were organizing weddings on their property and in its first year, 30 weddings booked in its picturesque grounds.

The piece de resistance is McKellar now offers visitors overnight stays in an authentic farmhouse – a sort of bed and breakfast, except that the experience McKellar living on the street and not in the house, and breakfast is in the form of fresh food that guests cook for themselves. If the three-bedroom house is too big, guests can choose an economy the size of the block nearby. Both come complete with hens and chickens roaming the grounds, and the roosters that offer guests Wake-up service at no extra charge.

McKellar's mother lived in the house for many decades until 2002, when she died. There are family photos that remain at home, that makes you feel like a home, not a vacation rental. One of the guests use the guestbook to complain about all the family photos, but no McKellar no intention of taking the photos below. We think that just adds to the charm of our stay.

The rooms are comfortable, even for a family numerous. A large living room and old-fashioned porch area provide comfortable places to relax, while the kitchen has everything you need to cook your own meals from the farm style. As part of your stay, seven sycamores will ask you what you like for breakfast and then have your fridge stocked on arrival.

McKellar family history is everywhere you look on the ground. An example is the observation tower – a replica of the real thing that was used to observe if they attempted to Japanese bombers THE flying attack along the San Joaquin Valley. McKellar family and neighbors took turns to look in two-hour shifts for two full years.

If that is not enough for you, consider that McKellar also puts the tour guide hat and personally escorts guests through its 200 acres of orange groves, where visitors know the differences between the navel and Valencia oranges, the best ways to plant, water them, they, close to harvest and give enough information to Guests can begin to grow oranges in their own.

Still not content, McKellar has begun hosting what he calls a farm Spring Fest, which opens its surface to the local families to come out and play carnival games, including one of a labyrinth, a kind of orange tree, where families can find their way along the rope-way through a giant puzzle and collect evidence on the road who completed the entire maze. If you've ever seen Survivor, is a game that is as intricate as one of the challenges reward television program.

As a result, the area of Visalia has very few attractions related agriculture for visitors. It is a bustling city with more than 400,000 residents in the area of marketing. Many households are rural and, of course, agricultural land and orchards stretch as far as the eye.

We stopped by Wiebe Farms in Reedley, where Richard Sawatzky manager on a family tradition that began with his father-in-law, Louise Wiebe, who launched the operation in 1956. The first crop of nectarines produced in 1959 and today the family business grows 500 hectares for nectarines, peaches and plums, about 50 different varieties of fruit altogether. Tour buses to tourists for a special stall where they are shown a video production professional Wiebe Farms summarizes the history and then taken on an open trailer flat to see the trees and learn more about the fruit production.

A much of the tour Wiebe Farms today is a tasting of olive oil. Wiebe has recently acquired the rights to produce olive oil and Bari are now setting aside surface to grow olives. But before you just drop by Wiebe Farms, be sure and call (559-638-6861) excursions are not available every day.

Another stop was in the general area where Ed Almond Acres Esajian Lucas manages a shop selling country that produces almonds, and a wide variety of fruits and products nuts. Esajian also been known to take a few minutes and talk to visitors about how to produce almonds. Our advice: Store covered almonds chocolate.

A great place to stop is Bravo Farms cheese factory – not to be missed along Highway 99 in Travers. The place is full with visitors they find a treasure of gifts and food and can be seen making cheese. We spent a couple of minutes with its owner, Jonathan Van Ryn, who took us below the factory cheese to the refrigerated warehouse where there is a room full of shelves full of blocks of cheese that even aging. Bravo Farms is now breaking the chain Costco where you can purchase the award-winning Silver Mountain Cheddar cheese cloth binding.

Do not miss your trip Bravo farms as the highway – which began in the 50 as a roadside fruit stand and now Van Ryn has been in operation and expanded to include a gift shop, burgers, ice cream parlor and convenience store. cheese Bravo was actually produced from the 70s by a local dairy farm, but the current cheese factory was built as a partnership between Van Ryn and the original owner de Bravo.

Everything goes to show that there is more than it seems like you do the tedious drive up and down the San Joaquin Valley. The next time you take a small Diversion in Visalia, California where agriculture produces more fruits and vegetables.

AT A GLANCE

WHERE: Visalia is a journey three hours north of Los Angeles and agricultural sites are scattered among several small towns in the general area. Sycamores Seven Ranch is about eight miles northeast of Visalia in Ivanhoe.

WHAT: Seven Rancho sycamores and other attractions in the Visalia area, offer a unique educational opportunity to learn more about California agriculture – in particular helps children from the city who do not know where many of their foods.

WHEN: Any time the year. Seven sycamores Spring Farm Fest promises to be a fun event each year, while also considering some type of fall event. Call ahead for exact dates.

WHY: The number one, it's good to see first hand how the farms and orchards, but it also is a great way to break the long journey between the northern and southern California. It should also be noted that Visalia is the gateway to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, each relatively short drive east.

How to check with the Visalia Convention & Visitors Bureau for a list of attractions (559-334-0141 or www.visitvisalia.org .) For more information on the Ranch Seven sycamores, phone 877-777-3536 or visit www.sevensycamores.com .

About the Author

Cary Ordway is a syndicated travel writer and president of Getaway Media Corp, which publishes websites focused on regional getaway travel. Among the sites currently offered by GMC are http://www.californiaweekend.com , covering California spa vacations and other Golden State destinations, and http://www.northwesttraveladvisor.com , covering Washington vacation ideas as well as other Pacific Northwest travel destinations.

Sjoerd – World Champion Stallion Friesian Horse