Andy's Orchard to Uproot 7,000 Trees for Hundreds of Silicon Valley Homes
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Andy's Orchard to Uproot 7,000 Trees for Hundreds of Silicon Valley Homes
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Summary
Santa Clara County officials are weighing a sale that would end Andy’s Orchard, replacing the 60-acre fruit farm with hundreds of homes, two parks, a playground and pickleball courts.
Andy Mariani, 80, said the orchard is no longer financially sustainable and that he has little money in the bank, relying on Social Security after years of shrinking viability.
The family has owned the land since 1957, and Mariani built the orchard around 280 varieties of stone fruit prized for flavor rather than shelf life.
That niche made the farm a regional institution: summer tastings drew hundreds, Santa Monica shoppers lined up before dawn, and restaurants including two-Michelin-star Mélisse featured its fruit.
The sale would erase one of the last remnants of the Santa Clara Valley’s orchard era, long overtaken by Silicon Valley housing and tech development.