Steve Murray’s family has a long history of working the land, going back four generations on his mother’s side - a family with a long history of matriarchal leadership. A freak bee-keeping accident killed his grandfather the day his mother was born, and his father passed away while Steve was a teenager. Steve worked through college with public assistance, grants, and scholarships, graduating from UCR with a degree in Plant Science. He went on to work in state and county ag. employment and became an ag consultant.

Our Roots

Proudly growing hundreds of varieties of traditional and specialty crops, picked ripe daily, from our farm to you.

He steeled a wish to return to his roots for years and met his wife Vickie, who had a background in conservation, and hospitality and graduated from the University of Idaho. They shared a passion for the land in different ways. In 1983 he would get closer to his goal, starting S.M. Apiaries. It quickly grew to 300 beehives and gave him the windfall he needed to take the next big jump. They upgraded their small Bakersfield home for a 20-acre table grape farm in the country until a knock at their door came that would change the landscape of their farm forever - an offer to grow new varieties of cherries.

Steve jokes that his life would have been much more manageable if it had been an offer to develop a pistachio nursery. His passion for farming grew initially from a love of varietals given to him by his father. Where most farmers would grow acres of a single fruit, he and his father planted 52 trees of 52 different varieties. To him, he found that produce available in stores never measured up to the host of flavors that he was able to pull from the various trees. Steven & Vickie would go on to sell produce from a small table and tent in front of their acreage off the edge of the 58 freeway, but the bulk of their business would come from their visits to The Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market.

 It was apparent that their choice to try out cherries and focus on specialty, new, and heirloom varieties would become a special one. They were featured in the L.A. times for having the best cherries in Hollywood in the early years of its prolific Farmer’s Market, giving them the boost they needed to trade the small roadside tent for a trailer that could be air-conditioned by way of fans, open doors, and area coolers. Their time in markets wouldn’t just be the beginnings of an expansion of space but also in generations. By this time, a young Steven Murray Jr would take bags of cherries and trade them for varieties of rare and exotic fruits he found being grown by others, sparking a love of the unknown that continues to define his role in Farmer’s Markets and leading to the rare fruit collecting, including introducing a host of proprietary varieties exclusive to breeders looking to bring the best flavor possible.

Meet Our Farmily.

  • Steve Murray

      Mr.Murray went on to develop industry-changing experimental growing techniques and methods to grow fruits out of climate, bringing regular harvests of boysenberries, blueberries, and white peaches. He’s since become Chair of the Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Trustee for the DiGiorgio School Board, Board Member of the Kern County Farm Bureau, received the Small Business of the Year award, and numerous other recognitions for his philanthropy and sharp wit that’s brought hundreds of jobs to Kern County. Steve can often be found reciting the history of Native American tribes who lived on the land in which he farms.

  • Vickie Murray

    Mrs. Murray’s moniker of "Okie Queen" would be used as inspiration as she sought to bring in family recipes and culinary creations to the farm kitchen, looking to feed hungry travelers on the freeway, and visitors to their now ubiquitous Harvest Festival, "The October Funfest." It would be called the "Cal-Okie Orchard Kitchen" - where fusion mid-western comfort food created the Award Winning "Okie Fry-Pie," a Bakersfield original delight. Her plan to make the farm a place for the people succeeded,  now seeing visitors in the thousands during one of the many events that grace the Big Red Barn every year.

  • Steven Murray Jr

     Steven Murray, their son, travels the world collecting rare produce to naturalize some of the most delicious and unique flavors spanning the globe.  Currently, he manages one of the largest collections of rare fruit in North America. Amidst all this, he is spearheading the development of Che Fruit in California, a small but delicious berry with a flavor akin to watermelon and seeds with an almond-like reminiscence. Through his diligence, he’s grown the distribution of produce nationwide and continues to bring new and amazing varieties of produce from the edges of the earth.

  • Katie Murray

    Katie Murray currently handles HR,  helping hire and manage one of the largest sources of local employment in our area. With her kind demeanor and detail-oriented focus, she brings a happy and healthy workplace to all  90+ Team Members who call Murray Family Farms their second home.

  • Sean Cameron Murray

    There is too much to be said about Sean Murray than can fit in a small text block, a cliche but quite true. He wore many hats around the farm, between managing the retail side, blowing out farmers’ markets, or selling cherries between cars during traffic on the freeway. Sean regretfully passed 3 days after his 26th Birthday. His spirit and memory thrive in everything that is Murray Family Farms.