harveyc
12-07-2009, 02:27 PM
FARMING: Fruit tree expert running out of time to keep nursery (http://www.nctimes.com/business/article_3c533f06-18b7-57b4-a7ee-22dad6b4aefe.html)
By JEFF ROWE - jrowe@nctimes.com | Posted: Sunday, December 6, 2009 12:00 am | No Comments Posted
Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery
At the intersection of the building industry collapse and the push for healthier foods and California-climate-friendly landscaping, a nursery owner near Vista wonders what hit him.
Steven Spangler raises some 1,200 varieties of plants at his 5-acre Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery. Where else can you find Ecuadorean black walnuts and Makepeace apples on the same lot?
On his botanic garden-like plot, Spangler also raises:
-- Seven varieties of cherries;
-- 16 varieties of guavas;
-- 17 varieties of palm;
-- 100 varieties of pomegranates;
-- 12 varieties of bananas.
In all, an estimated 60,000 potted plants grow here, awaiting new homes that came quickly during the building boom.
But when construction stopped, so did landscaping. And a surge in consumer interest in organic foods and converting green lawns to climate-friendly gardens hasn't been enough to keep the business going. "If you have soil, you should use it," Spangler said.
Spangler reckons he owes $130,000 in back rent and legal fees. He has an option to buy the land for $345,000, but business loans are tough to come by, even for thriving concerns.
At Exotica, sales are half what they were in boom years.
Spangler acquired his array of plants in travels around the world, seeking out different fruit trees that would grow in California. Most tourists come home with souvenirs and pictures; Spangler came home with seeds. Selling seeds morphed into a business selling plants germinated from some of those seeds.
"He's an expert on exotic fruits (and) his place is amazing," says Gary Bender, a San Marcos-based farm adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension Service. Bender also teaches a class in subtropical horticulture and always takes his class on a field trip to Spangler's nursery.
On rare-fruit blogs, comments on Spangler's nursery range from enthusiastic to giddy. "This is one of the best nurseries in the nation." said one. "It's a bit eccentric ... but they really know their stuff," said another.
Some customers are trying to help Spangler buy the land.
"He has things you cannot find anywhere else," said Gina Sanchez, a longtime customer from Santa Monica. "If we lose him, it's a blow to the health-food movement."
Spangler seems calmly confident that somehow, he will keep the business going.
This year, sales will total $100,000, he figures. In 2002, the business grossed about $250,000.
Spangler clearly would fall into the "minimalist" lifestyle category ---- he figures he can get by on $6,000 a year. He can recite psalms that reference a stewardship of the earth, and he's thin bordering on gaunt. He lacks health insurance, and the replacement panels and doors on his pickup truck are different colors. "It works," he said. A paint job isn't in the budget.
He and his mother, Jeannette, live in a nearby rental unit, and he acknowledges he sometimes spends seven days a week at the nursery.
He said he's merely one of the Earth's caretakers, a job that allows him to meet "wonderful people."
Jeannette Spangler said her son seemed oriented for his work almost from birth. He would bring home stones, plants and animals he had found, she said, earning the nickname of "Nature Boy."
Jeanette is 83 and works at the nursery every day, setting up a sampler table of fruits in the morning and then helping her son with the business.
"I've got so much to do here, it's mind-boggling," she said.
Several part-timers also help keep the place open seven days a week.
Spangler has been served with eviction papers; time is running out. He muses about someone stepping in to convert the property into a park, an arboretum, a botanic garden or a nature preserve. Some of the trees are worth several thousand dollars each, he figures.
A Chilean wine palm in a 5-foot container will fetch $8,000, he said. It would be a fine centerpiece to a landscaping project, if anyone were building.
In all, he calculated the inventory is worth $2.5 million.
And although Spangler could move the potted trees, the 1,700 mature trees in the ground would cost thousands of dollars each to move. They are arranged in mini-groves connected by a network of trails.
It's difficult, though, to imagine Spangler doing anything else in any other place. "I love the plant world," he said.
And if Spangler is outwardly calm about his financial situation, his mother is not.
"I can't sleep," she said.
Call staff writer Jeff Rowe at 760-740-5417.
Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery is at 2508-B East Vista Way, a half-mile south of Gopher Canyon Road. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Call 760-724-9093.
By JEFF ROWE - jrowe@nctimes.com | Posted: Sunday, December 6, 2009 12:00 am | No Comments Posted
Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery
At the intersection of the building industry collapse and the push for healthier foods and California-climate-friendly landscaping, a nursery owner near Vista wonders what hit him.
Steven Spangler raises some 1,200 varieties of plants at his 5-acre Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery. Where else can you find Ecuadorean black walnuts and Makepeace apples on the same lot?
On his botanic garden-like plot, Spangler also raises:
-- Seven varieties of cherries;
-- 16 varieties of guavas;
-- 17 varieties of palm;
-- 100 varieties of pomegranates;
-- 12 varieties of bananas.
In all, an estimated 60,000 potted plants grow here, awaiting new homes that came quickly during the building boom.
But when construction stopped, so did landscaping. And a surge in consumer interest in organic foods and converting green lawns to climate-friendly gardens hasn't been enough to keep the business going. "If you have soil, you should use it," Spangler said.
Spangler reckons he owes $130,000 in back rent and legal fees. He has an option to buy the land for $345,000, but business loans are tough to come by, even for thriving concerns.
At Exotica, sales are half what they were in boom years.
Spangler acquired his array of plants in travels around the world, seeking out different fruit trees that would grow in California. Most tourists come home with souvenirs and pictures; Spangler came home with seeds. Selling seeds morphed into a business selling plants germinated from some of those seeds.
"He's an expert on exotic fruits (and) his place is amazing," says Gary Bender, a San Marcos-based farm adviser with the University of California Cooperative Extension Service. Bender also teaches a class in subtropical horticulture and always takes his class on a field trip to Spangler's nursery.
On rare-fruit blogs, comments on Spangler's nursery range from enthusiastic to giddy. "This is one of the best nurseries in the nation." said one. "It's a bit eccentric ... but they really know their stuff," said another.
Some customers are trying to help Spangler buy the land.
"He has things you cannot find anywhere else," said Gina Sanchez, a longtime customer from Santa Monica. "If we lose him, it's a blow to the health-food movement."
Spangler seems calmly confident that somehow, he will keep the business going.
This year, sales will total $100,000, he figures. In 2002, the business grossed about $250,000.
Spangler clearly would fall into the "minimalist" lifestyle category ---- he figures he can get by on $6,000 a year. He can recite psalms that reference a stewardship of the earth, and he's thin bordering on gaunt. He lacks health insurance, and the replacement panels and doors on his pickup truck are different colors. "It works," he said. A paint job isn't in the budget.
He and his mother, Jeannette, live in a nearby rental unit, and he acknowledges he sometimes spends seven days a week at the nursery.
He said he's merely one of the Earth's caretakers, a job that allows him to meet "wonderful people."
Jeannette Spangler said her son seemed oriented for his work almost from birth. He would bring home stones, plants and animals he had found, she said, earning the nickname of "Nature Boy."
Jeanette is 83 and works at the nursery every day, setting up a sampler table of fruits in the morning and then helping her son with the business.
"I've got so much to do here, it's mind-boggling," she said.
Several part-timers also help keep the place open seven days a week.
Spangler has been served with eviction papers; time is running out. He muses about someone stepping in to convert the property into a park, an arboretum, a botanic garden or a nature preserve. Some of the trees are worth several thousand dollars each, he figures.
A Chilean wine palm in a 5-foot container will fetch $8,000, he said. It would be a fine centerpiece to a landscaping project, if anyone were building.
In all, he calculated the inventory is worth $2.5 million.
And although Spangler could move the potted trees, the 1,700 mature trees in the ground would cost thousands of dollars each to move. They are arranged in mini-groves connected by a network of trails.
It's difficult, though, to imagine Spangler doing anything else in any other place. "I love the plant world," he said.
And if Spangler is outwardly calm about his financial situation, his mother is not.
"I can't sleep," she said.
Call staff writer Jeff Rowe at 760-740-5417.
Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery is at 2508-B East Vista Way, a half-mile south of Gopher Canyon Road. Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Call 760-724-9093.