Orchards
The most important crops in the early years of Sahuaro Ranch were fruits and nuts. These commanded high prices, which meant they could profitably be raised here and sold to buyers across the country despite the high cost of shipping from such a remote location.
The first trees to be planted on the ranch were figs and dates. They were soon followed by olives, apricots, peaches, almonds, and oranges. By 1891, according to a Phoenix newspaper, Sahuaro Ranch had the largest fig orchard in the United States.
Over time, the crops grown at Sahuaro Ranch changed, as they did on many Arizona farms. Fruits and nuts became less important as the ranch's owners began raising more citurs and cattle. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, most of Sahuaro Ranch's olive trees were removed, a pecan grove was planted, and the acreage devoted to oranges and grapefruit was greatly increased.
On the Ranch Today
Some of the date palms near the Main House were planted in 1891, making this one of the oldest date groves in Arizona. Most of the citrus trees were planted starting in the late 1920s. The apricot, peach, and fig trees (located north of the Fruit Packing Shed) were planted in recent years.
[Photo captions follow]
[Top] Above are some visitors to Sahuaro Ranch in 1898. Here they are posing with some of the ranch's first orange trees, which were planted in 1890. Sahuaro Ranch was one of the first places in the Phoenix area where farmers experimented with growing citrus. While the trees in this picture no longer exist, many of the trees at the ranch today are from the late 1920s. (Photo courtesy of the Arizona Historical Foundation, W.N. Campbell Photograph Album, DW-84-54).
Here is one of Sahuaro Ranch's date palms, heavy with fruit and ready to be harvested. These were among the earliest fruit trees planted at the ranch. (Photo courtesy of Richard Smith).
Courtesy hmdb.org
