Mike Braga’s family has been growing nuts for three generations, since around 1950 when his grandfather began with almonds in Caruthers, in Fresno County, Calif.

“My grandfather’s family came from the Portugal islands where they grew wine grapes,” Braga said. “He immigrated at 18 years to the U.S.”

His father continued growing almonds, while Braga managed a large farm for about 30 years before deciding to strike out on his own, with Braga Organic Farms.

He stayed close to the family line of business but chose to focus on organic pistachios, which he has been growing since 1999 in Madera County. He also packages and resells other organic products through the store in Madera and online.

When he first began growing pistachios, he found the market for organic nuts was small so he had to sell his own product, which eventually led to selling others’ products. He branched out to online sales in 2000, and also sells to wholesalers and retailers such as Amazon and Whole Foods.

His family is involved in the business that he and his late wife, Julie, began together. Of his three sons, Doug and Jeff work in the business full-time, while Dennis does the book keeping.

Initially, they did the roasting, salting and packaging on the farm, which is 40 acres and has about 5,000 pistachio trees. Now, they also have a warehouse in Madera where packaging is done. Braga estimates he is one of maybe seven or eight organic pistachio growers in the region.

On a typical day, the Braga men start work around 8 a.m, checking the orders received for the day, overseeing things at the farm, and taking care of the store, which lives up to the phrase “retail is detail.”

“Most of my time is spent on the retail side, and overseeing packaging,” Braga said. “Forty acres does not take up too much time, we have one employee. I’m kind of semi-retired, I do inventory, ordering, shipping, running errands and the farm.”

His son Doug takes care of customers such as Whole Foods and wholesale distributors, while Jeff looks after the online business via their website, BuyOrganicNuts.com.

On the farm, tree pruning is done mechanically, and a crew is hired for harvesting, after which the pistachios go into the bin and are then sent to drying.

This year the crop looks to be good, and the trees are now budding, he said. But he expects water will be tight because the area only received half the normal rainfall.

The best part of what he does is the blessing of being able to work with his family.

“I like working with the boys, out of the same office and eating lunch together everyday, that’s the best part,” Braga said.