Sierra Cascade Nursery

Sierra-Cascade Nursery was founded as "Susanville Nursery" in 1977 by
Joe Jertberg and his oldest son, Randy. Joe began growing strawberries in
Ontario, California when he was a teenager, around 1935. Joe saved
money, while serving in the Navy during WWII, and by the conclusion of
the war was able to buy enough land to grow berries commercially. In
total, Joe spent 58 years growing strawberries, and was widely recognized
as an industry leader in Southern California.

A large part of Joe's success can be attributed to his innovative spirit. He
was constantly looking for ways to improve his crop. During the 60's and
70's he experimented with strawberry nursery plantings. He set up test
plots in the mountains of Southern California's San Bernardino County and
used coolers for artificial chilling. During this time he met a farmer with
ranch outside of Susanville, a small town in Northeastern California. Joe
was immediately intrigued with the possibility of using the Susanville site
for a strawberry nursery, because he anticipated that its higher elevation
and dry climate (conditions unique in the industry at the time) would
create an ideal environment for growing nursery stock.

Randy had worked with Joe in strawberries since he was a boy, and
eagerly accepted the opportunity to lead Joe's nursery venture. In mid-
April 1977, Randy and his wife Laura planted the first 10- acre crop of
strawberries with a Ford 4100 tractor and one mechanical transplanter.
The crop from the first planting performed well at Joe's farm in Ontario,
and the following year the acreage of the Susanville nursery doubled.

In 1994 Susanville Nursery incorporated and changed its name to
Sierra-Cascade Nursery Inc. (SCN). The new name more accurately
described the company, which had grown considerably and spread to
multiple ranches. SCN is now comprised of the High Elevation ranches:
Bonanza and Merrill in Southern Oregon, Susanville, Tulelake and Butte
Valley in Northern California, and the Low Elevation ranches: Manteca,
Ballico, Delhi, Winton and Livingston, which are all located along the east
side of California's San Joaquin Valley. Today, the company grows 1,142
acres of berry nursery stock, likely making it the largest berry nursery in
the world.

In addition to berries, SCN has always practiced crop rotation in an effort
to sustain and improve the quality of its soils and crops. Fields in
off-berry years are used to grow endive and asparagus nursery stock, as
well as seed grain, herbs and other rotational crops that profitably utilize
the land. At least one year in the rotation is dedicated to green manure
crops, which add to the soil health.

Though Sierra-Cascade Nursery has grown considerably since 1977, the
essence of the company has not changed. Every year, the goal of SCN is
much the same as it was when the first 10 acres were planted: to be an
innovative farm, committed to integrity and to growing the highest quality
nursery plants possible.