My parents, Hank and Ellen Brokaw, met as students at the University of Chicago in 1951.
Hank was born and raised in Whittier, California, a section of Southeast Los Angeles County that, in retrospect, is arguably the birthplace of the California avocado industry. Hank’s father and uncle were independent avocado and citrus nurserymen.

Ellen was born in Chicago; her father was a congregational clergyman, a theological seminary president, and a published writer of religious history.

Hank earned his master’s degree in anthropology, he and Ellen got married, and they both moved to Southern California so that Hank could earn his teaching credential at UCLA.

They eventually settled in Ventura County, where Hank started teaching high school and junior college math and chemistry, and they welcomed my three oldest siblings: Debbie, Rob, and Elisabeth. Initially, they rented a home in Ojai, but later, they bought an acre in an Oxnard community called El Rio. They moved into the property’s tiny Quonset hut, where they raised my three oldest siblings.

Inevitably, Hank and Ellen decided to invest in the necessary equipment and materials and start raising avocado and citrus nursery stock in their El Rio backyard as a side business. As a result of hard work, Hank’s problem-solving skills, Ellen’s saleswomanship, the “forced” labor of my three older siblings, and lots of good luck, the side nursery business grew.

The first “good problem” that had to be addressed was space—offsite land had to be leased to increase production and fulfill demand. The second “good problem” was time. Eventually, the nursery business became so busy that Hank couldn’t manage it while also teaching. That was when he left his teaching career, and the Brokaws became a full-time farming family.

In the mid-20th century, avocados were a niche commodity, and per capita consumption in the U.S. was relatively low. However, in the 1960s and 70s, avocados gained more visibility, and marketing efforts became robust enough to feature advertisements with personalities such as Angie Dickinson. As a result, the demand for avocado nursery stock increased dramatically.

In response, Hank and Ellen collateralized their assets and financed an expansion of nursery stock production capacity. Their gamble paid off, positioning Brokaw Nursery as one of the few avocado nurseries capable of accommodating the 1960s and 70s “avocadoization” of California.

Thanks to Brokaw Nursery’s success, Hank and Ellen were able to fulfill their actual dream of avocado and citrus ranching. In 1967, they bought virgin land in Soledad, California, provided a water source and road access, planted a citrus and avocado orchard, and named it “Lemoravo Ranch.” They did pretty much the exact same thing in Santa Paula, California, in 1977. We moved into our new home on “Cheravo Ranch” on my 10th birthday.
I refer to Hank and Ellen as “Avocado Industry Pioneers” not only because of their contribution to the growth of the industry as nurserypersons but also because of (1) their active and influential pursuit of better production methods and (2) their dedication to improving nursery stock, fruit varieties, and the avocado industry as a whole.
For example, Brokaw Nursery shared in or developed outright several patents since the 1960s. Their most famous one is the “Clonal Avocado Rootstock.” Root rot is a fungal disease that stunts or kills avocado orchard trees. UC Riverside, California’s avocado research university, isolated an avocado variety, the cutting of which proved to be root-rot resistant; it was named The Duke-7. However, avocado trees can’t be propagated from cuttings. In order to successfully propagate them at production levels, they must initially be grown from seeds. So how does one graft a root-rot-resistant Duke-7 onto an avocado seedling, “force” the Duke-7 cutting to become the main root system, and then “choke off” the original seed and root system? Furthermore, how does one do so reliably at scale while using tools and methods that can be taught to and successfully carried out by staff members? Hank, who was a natural problem solver, figured out a way, and the Clonal Rootstock has since become the standard for orchard-quality avocado nursery stock.

Additionally, Hank and Ellen have always been dedicated to developing and maintaining win-win relationships with employees, vendors, and clients.
Since the El Rio days, they endeavored to foster positive client experiences and did all they could to ensure that clients benefited from doing business with them. The trust they built up definitely paid off when it came time to scale up production.
Hank and Ellen also took very good care of their valuable and skilled staff members. All Brokaw Ranch Company staff members have been provided with a full set of benefits, health coverage, and a pension since the early 1970s. Many of the individuals I worked alongside during my teens are still beloved employees of Brokaw Nursery or Brokaw Ranch Company.
As post-harvest handlers, retailers, and wholesalers of Brokaw Ranch Company avocados, specialty citrus, and subtropical tree fruits, Brokaw Avocados endeavors to carry on Hank and Ellen’s legacy of product excellence, positive client experiences, and a nurtured and well-paid staff.

Thank you so much for your support; we look forward to a bright future together with YOU and with Brokaw Ranch Company!