The Jensen Ranch:
The First Partnership
(1872-1920)

The Late 19th Century: Diversification and Hard Work

In 1890-1891 the brothers put 40 acres into prune, apricot, plum and almond orchards - with fruit now to be picked and cared for,  and trees to be sprayed and pruned, this added to the need for labor on the ranch. 

They planted peas and invented a wooden cultivator pulled by man, because the horses would trample the plants. One year the brothers marketed 400 tons of tomatoes.   

Most of the Jensen land was in barley, oats, and hay, using crude equipment for planting and harvesting: single plows, reapers, wooden binders, and bundle wagons; the thresher was hand fed.

Always there were chickens - from two to three hundred - and the family would carry eggs to a market on Upper A Street. The Jensens also had hogs to feed, care for, and butcher in order to maintain their diet. 

The children milked 30 cows before and after school.  30 gallons of cream was made into butter at a time, and shipped to San Francisco. They labored diligently to improve their holdings, with fences, buildings, water sources, and equipment, with orchards and livestock.