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CandyCot Fruit Company

CandyCot Fruit Company
Market Days

Out for the Season
Farmland

10 acres (Candycot is part of a 400-acre operation) in Waterford, CA, 120 miles from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

People

Brothers, John Driver, and sons, Andrew and Mark, along with 1 full-time employee, Santos Guzman, and 5 part-time employees.

Certification

Transitional

Farm History

The Driver family has been farming in the Modesto area for three generations. John Driver works as a consultant on international agricultural development projects. In the mid-1990s, he worked on a project helping apricots growers in Central Asia. He brought home several Central Asian apricot seeds and worked for 10 years to breed the 6 varieties that he calls CandyCots.

Although formerly organic, they dropped certification to combat bacterial canker disease that kills trees. Now, the Driver family are using sustainable production practices.

Pest Management

To control pests, they use organic pesticides and prune their trees to encourage good air flow.

Soil

To maintain soil fertility, they use cover crops, mulch, and compost.

 

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