Sunkist® stories, articles & musings

From a dry goods store in 1900 to thriving lemon groves today — the Leavens family continues a legacy built on land, commitment, and family.

When you stand in the Leavens lemon groves in Santa Paula, the history feels close — almost tangible. The rows stretch out toward the hills in perfect symmetry, the ocean air drifts inland, and the trees hold stories from more than a century of family stewardship.

For Link Leavens, his sister Leslie, and their cousin Dave, this ranch isn’t just where they work. It’s where generations before them invested their hope, their labor, and their love for agriculture. It’s a living piece of family history — and the foundation for everything they’re building today.

How the Leavens Family Landed in Santa Paula

The family’s California story began in 1900, when their great-great-grandfather arrived in Santa Paula and took a job in a dry goods store. At the time, he likely had no idea that his descendants would become part of one of the region’s enduring citrus families. But the land here — and the opportunity it held — had a way of drawing people in.

By the 1940s, the Leavens were actively farming.
By the 1960s, they planted their first citrus.
And they’ve never looked back.

Today, the family grows lemons, carrying forward more than 80 years of work on the same soil their ancestors once tended.

Three Stewards for a Family of Fifty

The Leavens family has grown into a large, extended network — about 50 people today — but only three are directly involved in running the ranch: Link, Leslie, and Dave.

For them, farming is both a responsibility and a privilege.

“It’s important that we build relationships,” they say, “not just for our generation, but for the future ones who will take over after us.”

And so they talk often with the younger family members — about the land, its value, and how to care for it. Not from a place of pressure, but from a place of pride. Because the grove isn’t just property. It’s the Leavens’ legacy.

“This beautiful land is what was handed to us,” they say. “We want to pass it on in good hands.”

A Lifestyle You Don’t Clock Out Of

Ask the Leavens what they love about being Sunkist growers, and you won’t hear anything about convenience or corporate structure. Instead, they talk about values.

“Hard work. Love of family. Learning and passing those values on. Farming is the way you live — not just the job you do.”

It’s an honest description.
Because farming lemons in Santa Paula demands everything.

It’s waking up at midnight when frost alarms go off.
It’s worrying about Santa Ana winds when they howl through the canyon.
It’s watching the sky for smoke when brushfires break out.
It’s long days in the groves, and even longer nights.

But it’s also the quiet moments — early morning light on the trees, the smell of lemon blossoms, the satisfaction of seeing fruit set after months of care. It’s neighbors who have known your family for generations. It’s being part of a co‑op built by people like you.

For the Leavens family, that’s the heart of it.

Part of Something Bigger

Being part of Sunkist — a grower-owned cooperative — gives their family’s work a larger purpose. What begins as a bloom in Santa Paula becomes something shared around the world. Their fruit joins that of thousands of other family farms, each contributing to a legacy that stretches far beyond one community.

They feel that connection deeply.

“We’re part of something bigger than just our ranch,” they say. “Sunkist connects what we do here to people everywhere.”

A Legacy in Good Hands

Five generations after their great-great-grandfather arrived in Santa Paula, the Leavens family is still here — tending trees, raising fruit, and protecting the land that has shaped their identity for more than a century.

With Link, Leslie, and Dave leading today’s work — and the next generation already listening, learning, and absorbing the rhythms of the ranch — the future of the Leavens legacy looks strong.

Because for them, farming isn’t just something their family does.
It’s something their family is.

And as long as the lemon trees keep blooming on this land, the Leavens will be here — caring for them, caring for each other, and carrying forward a story rooted deep in California soil.