Our Growers
If you ask sisters Laurie and Tina why they came back to Fillmore to take over the family ranch, they’ll tell you it was more than a business decision. More than nostalgia. It was a calling — one rooted in heritage, memory, and a deep, almost spiritual connection to the land their family has cared for since 1876.
Laurie and Tina are fifth‑generation Californians and fifth‑generation Sunkist growers. Their great‑great‑grandparents, Bridget Donlin and Dominic McGrath, immigrated from Ireland and settled in Ventura County with their 13 children. Their grandmother — one of those 13 — raised her family in Fillmore, where oranges, ranch life, and community shaped their early years.
Every home they lived in growing up sat on a citrus ranch.
Every morning, their father woke them with a small cup of fresh‑squeezed orange juice — picked moments earlier from the trees outside their bedroom windows.
“It was part of our DNA,” they say. “We grew up running through the groves, visiting the Sunkist packing house, playing with the kids of migrant workers. Fillmore raised us.”
That sense of belonging never left — even when life carried them to careers outside agriculture and far from the orchard rows of their childhood.
When the opportunity arose to purchase their family’s 500‑acre ranch through the estate, Laurie and Tina knew immediately:
This was meant to be.
Today, they farm 50 acres, including 40 acres of Valencia and Navel oranges, under the name Rancho Dos Hermanas — “the ranch of the two sisters.”
But they didn’t return only to farm.
They returned to protect.
They returned to restore.
They returned to build something that lasts.
Laurie and Tina talk about conventional farming the way some people talk about the past — with respect, but also with clear determination to do better.
Their vision for the ranch is bold, long‑term, and deeply rooted in stewardship:
✅ Convert the groves to organic
They’ve hired consultants, knowing it may take up to five years, but they believe in growing the healthiest fruit possible — fruit that feeds the world responsibly.
✅ Create a conservation and mitigation bank
The ranch sits at one of the most unique ecological sites in California — where two rivers meet:
This rare confluence supports rich biodiversity. Biologists have already documented endangered species like the Western Pond Turtle, along with dozens of sensitive plants and animals.
Laurie and Tina made a groundbreaking decision:
They will never develop this land.
Instead, they are working to establish a mitigation bank — preserving wetlands, restoring habitat, and offering environmental credits to offset outside developments.
It’s innovative.
It’s protective.
And it’s deeply ethical.
✅ Create a place of learning and inspiration
Their dream is to build an outdoor education center where students, community members, and future farmers can come to learn about:
“We want this ranch to be a living classroom,” they say. “A place people can touch, breathe, and experience real agriculture.”
Sunkist isn’t just a brand to Laurie and Tina — it’s a piece of their childhood.
They remember touring the Fillmore packing house, watching boxes roll down conveyor belts, seeing family members working on the line.
“Sunkist is iconic. It’s been in our family for generations. Having a partner that’s over 100 years old gives us confidence. It represents quality, heritage, and trust.”
They also feel embraced by the Sunkist grower community — a network of people who knew their parents, their grandparents, and share the same love for land and citrus.
Working together hasn’t always been easy — they laugh about the long drives, the steep learning curve, the water‑system crash courses, the emotional days.
But they also speak with gratitude.
“We’ve had so many laughs, so many tears. We shut down our careers for this. We’re pouring our hearts into it.”
Their partnership mirrors the land itself — two rivers converging, two sisters converging — strength multiplied by connection.
Laurie and Tina don’t want to force the ranch on their children. But they want them to understand it — the values, the work ethic, the responsibility.
“The trees don’t stop growing. The sun comes up every day. Farming is a lifestyle.”
Their hope is simple:
That the next generation falls in love with the land the way they did.
This ranch is rare — a valley where:
“We are nothing without the land,” they say. “We owe it everything.”
And they’re determined to give back.
At 62 and 64, Laurie and Tina consider this their life’s next great chapter — a project of meaning, impact, and love.
They are:
“It was all meant to be,” they say.
And standing in the wind near the confluence of two rivers, you can believe it.
