Recommendations for best places to start a farm east of Sacramento...El Dorado County? (Fresno: how much, schools)

[jimjam]

I am looking to start a farm east of Sacramento perhaps in El Dorado County(Placerville or Camino(Apple Hill)) Also thinking Placer County or Gold Country...

I am hoping for a climate between 50-90 degrees average high(not too hot in the summer/ not too cold in winter) perhaps on the cusp between the valley and the foothills.....(I may not be making sense to the locals but please bear with me)

Planning to farm produce, grapes and perhaps apples...(livestock and poultry too)(but not commercially)

Schools, commute does not make a difference. Windy roads are not my favorite...hopefully less traffic than more...Looking for a good place for children. I'm looking for rural/semi-rural. Also someplace that has more rain than other spots(I would prefer not to irrigate with a drip system) I know Sacramento gets very dry. Thank you.

[NinaN]

There are plenty of vineyards and orchards in Apple Hill (in and around Placerville) and also down in Amador County near Plymouth and Jackson. I am not into farming, but clearly there are people that have made it work for them there. I see plenty of livestock driving down Latrobe towards Plymouth. Plymouth might be too rural for you if you are looking for more of a city, Placerville might be a good place to start looking.

[KC6ZLV]

Any special type of grape?

Average temperatures in the areas grapes are grown in the foothills are well above 90F in the summer. Some locations are warmer than Sacramento. You will have to get above 3000 ft to have summers with average highs below 90. I don't think I've seen grapes grown commercially above 2000 ft, although they should do well at that elevation.

Quite a few places at the lower elevation of El Dorado County has serpentine soil and isn't much use for growing much of anything.

[jimjam]

Thank you, both.

I will look into Amador County when I visit. I don't mind it being rural.

I was thinking of doing table grapes. It seems that I am probably looking at an elevation around 3,000 feet. I should probably check out the vineyards and orchards in Camino. How much snow should I expect in Winter at 3,000 feet say in Camino?

Thank you again for the help.

[DMenscha]

Table grapes at 3000'? The highest vineyard around here is 2800' and they don't get much in the way of production (It does make for some decent wine grapes though.)

You might not like high temperatures, but grapes do.

May I suggest the Farm Advisors office from the UC extension program. Each county has one.

[ferretkona]

Grape production is now the highest in the Paso Robles area, more than Napa.
All the land surrounding my folks ranch is covered in grape vines.

I know they have a nice apple orchard in Tuolumne City. Used to be Sonka's apple, made the best mile high apple pie. They were bought and renamed.

[KC6ZLV]

When talking about grapes the variety is important. There are many different types of table grapes and probably more varieties of wine grapes.

As one poster mentioned, the Paso Robles and Atascadero lead the way for grape production. That is, wine grapes, but not table grapes. Fresno County probably has the largest production of table grapes. Most of which are Thompson's Seedless, sold in grocery stores as "green grapes," but are not the same variety called "Green." Fresno County is consistently hotter than hell during the summer. Paso Robles is cooler than Fresno. It is more like Sacramento where temperature averages are concerned, but has warmer winter averages and larger a larger temperature range overall. Records are as low as 0F and as high as 117F. Grapes do fine there.

You should really do some research on what varieties do the best under what conditions and go from there.

[jimjam]

Thank you again, everyone. I am mostly interested in produce/vegetables. I have read of farms in Camino/Placerville that farm vegetables. The grapes was more of a side issue(I was thinking of researching a Concord grape originally from Massachusetts). I'm assuming the soils and rainfall is conducive to farming vegetables in those areas? Or is it too cold which makes it better for orchards?

[wburg]

Water is a big issue. Generally it does not rain in these parts during the summer and early fall. If you're farming, you will have to have some sort of irrigation system, and a major reason why El Dorado County is relatively unpopulated is its lack of water. Flat, arable land also helps, and as you get higher in altitude the terrain is less flat. Vegetables like heat and good soil--there is more of both down in the valley than up in the foothills.

Is your idea to create more of a recreational/hobby farm or to go into business?

[jimjam]

I was going to start small(hobby for a few years) and work my way up(but on the same land). Does that mean that Apple Hill uses irrigation and that there is a lack of water there too?