Alisha Taff has been eating jujubes her entire life. As a child, she would receive them as treats from her mother’s friends, not quite appreciating how nutritious and important a role they played in Chinese medicine. Many years later, Alisha understood why jujubes were so special and felt compelled to grow her own jujubes when she started Rock Front Ranch in 2003.

Rock Front Ranch is located on 320-acres in Santa Barbara County near Santa Maria, California—just 40 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The farm sits at the gateway of the Cuyama Valley, surrounded by miles of chaparral and oak forests.

The farm grows and markets fresh and dried organic jujubes and jujube products under the label ‘Just Jujubes’. A firm believer in farming sustainably, Alisha chose to grow jujubes because they are remarkably drought-tolerant, produce zero-waste and naturally have no pests. The jujubes are vine ripened for optimum sweetness and hand-picked.

The jujube, also known as Red Date, or Chinese Date is incredibly nutritious and is a great sleep aid, full of antioxidants, potassium, and flavonoids. When fresh, jujubes pack up to 20 times the vitamin C found in citrus fruits. For thousands of years in Central and South East Asia these sweet fruits have been prescribed for anxiety and insomnia and are considered an ancient superfood.

Rock Front Ranch is certified organic by CCOF and The Real Organic Project. They were recently honored by Chico State University as a mentor farm in California for their successful regenerative agriculture practices. Learn more about Rock Front Ranch in this illuminating 4.5 minute-video. 

Fun Fact: Alisha is also an apiarist (beekeeper) and owns Rock Front Ranch Honey.