OUR STORY
We started this journey in 2015 when we bought our home in Chandler. Our new home sat on an acre and a half lot with nothing on it except a playset tower, which we turned into a chicken coop. I decided that with all this land we need to create our own food forest. Not knowing where to start I turned to YouTube and discovered Jake Mace, Shamus O’Leary and Jay Barringer. Without these people, along with Boyd Worthen, Ken Ngo and Bryan Lines, the dream of owning a nursery would not have become a reality.
​
Over the years I bought trees from the local nurseries, followed their instructions and planted a small orchard. In 2021, after 38 years, I retired from the Army. It was at that time that I decided that I never wanted to work for someone else again and decided to open a fruit tree nursery. After two years of planning, we opened Chandler Fruit Nursery in January of 2023.
I’m only half of the story because without my son, Alex, Chandler Fruit Nursery would not be possible. This is a father and son journey that we share together. Unlike many nurseries we did not start gradually and build over time. I went all in and built a barn with a grow room, in ground irrigation, fencing, shade structures and purchased an inventory of over 700 trees. It is almost impossible to maintain a nursery that size alone and without my son I could not keep this going. Alex will not be helping forever because he has his own dreams. He will graduate college in a couple of years and build his own life, but I will be forever grateful to him for his help.
​
My goal is to produce as much of our own food as possible. While my primary focus is fruit trees I also intend to expand our food production to gardening and raising animals. I’m learning to can, dehydrate, freeze and someday will freeze dry our excess food. I will share mine and others' experiences in growing fruit trees, and share stories, recipes, etc. in genres other than fruit trees.
I feel that society is missing a sense of community and at Chandler Fruit Nursery we hope to instill the value of community. We plan to do this by hosting events, classes, and occasionally sales of products other than fruit trees from other vendors. Come along and join us on this journey!
