September 28, 2025 • 24 mins
Tucked away in the historic apple-growing region of Oak Glen, California, lies Riley's Farm – a 760-acre colonial living history experience that's become a beloved family tradition for thousands of Southern California families. Join Coach Mikki and farm owner Jim Riley as they explore how this remarkable destination evolved from a family vacation property into an immersive historical experience hosting 80,000 schoolchildren annually.
Riley shares the serendipitous journey that led to creating a place where history comes alive through Revolutionary War reenactments, colonial dinners, and seasonal harvests. What make extraordinary isn't just its apple orchards or homemade pies – it's the opportunity for families to actively participate in American heritage rather than passively consume entertainment. From pressing apple cider in traditional presses to dancing in converted barns after farm-to-table meals, visitors create memories that digital experiences simply can't replicate.
The conversation reveals something deeper happening at Riley's Farm – what Jim describes as a "mystical connection" many feel to agricultural rhythms. "Most of us are only three or four generations removed from the soil," he explains, suggesting that farm experiences tap into cultural memories embedded in our collective consciousness. As families disconnect from technology and reconnect with tactile experiences, they often discover joy in simple pleasures and gain appreciation for the sacrifices made by earlier Americans who built our nation through tremendous hardship and heroism.
Whether you're looking for a unique family outing, seeking to understand American history beyond textbooks, or simply craving the taste of freshly pressed cider and homemade caramel apple pie, Riley's Farm offers an authentic escape from modern life. As Coach Mikki attests from years of visits, "It leaves a memory that you'll cherish." Discover how you can experience this unique destination or support its preservation by visiting rileysfarm.com today.
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Episode Transcript
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unknown (00:00):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Hey, I'm Coach Mickey, and I'm so glad that
you've joined us.
And if this is your first timejoining us, come on in and make
yourself comfortable.
And for those of you that joinus on a regular basis, we are so
glad that you do.
And we're extremely happy tohear your comments, your
questions, and your suggestions.
And I love the fact that eachand every one of you take the
opportunity to reach out to myguests.
And today is no differentbecause this is a guest that I'm
(00:25):
very excited to have and I'mvery honored to have because I
know his time is very valuable.
However, this has been a part ofmy life and my family's life for
many, many years.
And to bring Mr.
Riley onto my podcast is goingto be a pleasure and fun and
give you guys some insight ofsomething that you may not know
is even here in SouthernCalifornia, where you can bring
(00:48):
your family to do someincredible things.
I am talking about Riley's Farm.
Riley's Farm is an amazing placefor your family.
We've gone apple picking everyyear.
We have done all their events.
And if you are looking for aplace for your family, it you
will be amazed.
So thank you, Mr.
Riley, for joining us today.
I really appreciate you.
SPEAKER_02 (01:08):
Thanks for having me.
Appreciate it very much.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
So I know Riley's Farm is a little bit unique.
That's a lot unique, actually,than anything else that you
would find.
So I just would like to ask, sowhat um what inspired you to
start this colonial way of uhbringing this to life to
everybody on a regular basis?
SPEAKER_02 (01:29):
Well, it was a little bit serendipitous.
Um my uh my parents uh met outuh in California in World War II
in San Francisco, and um theymoved to Southern California.
And uh at the time in the late40s, early 50s, Southern
California was actually a prettyrural place.
Um they lived in Arcadia for awhile.
(01:50):
It was all um cornfields andchicken coops back then.
It was a pretty ruralenvironment.
And and uh my dad bought a ranchin Yukaipa uh in the 50s, it was
kind of our vacation placethrough the 60s, and um and then
some land came up for sale inOak Glenn.
And Oakland is uh an applegrowing area, has been since the
(02:13):
1880s or so, and uh the familykept buying land until we
amassed about um 760 acresaltogether, and we uh were
approached because we had thesebig open fields by Civil War
enactors to do a uh Civil Warbattle reenactment.
And one thing led to another.
I I when we built our home, Ialways loved the 18th century,
(02:36):
so my wife and I built um acolonial style home, and uh we
were going to do 18th centurydinner theater, and that was uh
doing all right, but but reallynot taking up as fast as we
wanted to, and we wereapproached by two mothers of
fifth graders to a uhRevolutionary War program for
children, and I always thoughtthat wouldn't work because when
(03:00):
I was a kid they just took us tomuseums and bakeries and and I
couldn't see California kids,you know, uh with uh fake
muskets going off to battle, andum, and yet it it just exploded
in popularity.
We were within three or fouryears we were sending 80,000
students a year in um livinghistory uh for colonial America
(03:23):
and um and then extended to manyof our other programs.
We had already started uh SleepyHollow, which is our most
popular show, and uh and LivingHistory just kind of became the
theme of the place.
We it's it's a place where youcan come and see uh Gold Rush,
uh Civil War or AmericanRevolutionary or Living History
(03:44):
of various forms.
It kind of just basicallydeveloped uh um through chance.
SPEAKER_00 (03:52):
Well, it's it's amazing.
Um, I've had an opportunitymyself with my family, like I
said, to experience not onlyyour farm, uh to go up and and
apple pick, but also to uh getour pumpkins and then also you
know do uh pressing the applecider.
I mean, it's a full experience.
And and through the years withwith my two kids, I've had the
(04:13):
opportunity to bring them up andand multiple of friends of
theirs, and each and every time,you know, we leave and and it's
it we it's such joy.
And you make your farm makes youfeel like family uh when you
come.
And I've had an opportunity todo your your dinner events, and
they are nothing like I've everexperienced because they're so
inclusive.
And and I've it's a it's a andit's an experience, I guess.
(04:35):
If I have to tell you anything,it's something that you leave
with a smile on your face, anduh we get excited every year to
to come up and experience this.
But I I know your farm also,besides that, and you're being
humble because you've gotamazing food too.
Your your food and your dinnersare are incredible, and the
people and the staff doeverything they can to make you
(04:56):
feel like you're in a colonialenvironment, and and it's
they're very inviting and andfriendly.
SPEAKER_02 (05:02):
Oh, we we like hearing that.
We we want we want to hit on alleight cylinders, and we do have
and we do have uh greatbarbecue, and really in terms of
uh the environment, I alwaystell the employees that the
subtext here is love.
You have to you have to loveyour guests, basically.
And um, and so we tend toattract a lot of really great
(05:23):
young kids who work for us.
And uh we're as I was saying theother day, we've been urged to
have a singles event because somany people have met and married
here on that.
Um we're thinking about havingone of our dances be dedicated
to to singles.
SPEAKER_00 (05:40):
So that's fun.
Well, what a what a great thingto hear that people have
actually met there.
What a what a great environmentto meet someone because again,
it's so wholesome and and uhlike I said, there's so much to
do when you're out on your farm.
And it's and it's beautiful.
Your farm is beautiful.
I mean, I know um you justrecently had something where we
had the meteor shower.
(06:00):
I saw where you could actuallycome up and and uh sit outside
and and watch the meteor shower,and that was new.
I don't know if I that that wassomething you've done before or
if that was just something newyou just offered.
I just happened to see that onyour website.
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
This is the second year for that.
We um um were a little bit awayfrom the light pollution.
So you people kept remarkingthat they get to see a pretty uh
pristine summer sky.
So on uh moonless nights, it'sactually pretty dramatic.
We we this last one and it wasfunny, it was a full moon, so it
wasn't as dramatic a sky, butpeople just uh liked hanging out
(06:35):
and uh having dinner and sittingon the lawn until one or two in
the morning.
So it was um it's it was areally great, great group of
people.
And we've we've just beenblessed with with wonderful
guests, I mean, who've supportedus over the years.
So, and you know, in terms of umbeing wholesome, you know, it's
not that hard to do anymore inSouthern California.
(06:56):
I mean, we live in the era ofdrag queen story hour and all
kinds of and uh dramaticincidents of craziness or
whatever.
So I think the people they justlike to feel like they're gonna
go going back to grandma's houseon some level.
SPEAKER_00 (07:12):
Well, and I think it's also family.
It's very family-orientedbecause a lot of things, things
around here, I should say, evenin Southern California, is is
very um theme-oriented.
I mean, well, yours istheme-oriented, but it's a
different feel.
It's completely different.
It's a completely differentfeel.
It is not packing in people andand uh just running them
(07:32):
through.
You it it's you have a home, youhave a place.
It's like going into someone'shome and and you do it with
respect too.
I mean, and that's what it is.
Your farm is your home.
And uh, but the way the groundsare set up, and like you said,
the the staff that's there andhaving the opportunity to apple
pick.
I mean, I think now these days,kids, I mean, they they think
(07:53):
that getting fruit is going tothe market, but having an
experience to be able to go pickberries or or pick the apples.
And then um, and one of myfavorite things that we do as a
family is you have those bigbushels of apples that and you
take them, you put them in thatold-fashioned press.
And my kids got such a kick outof being able to press their own
(08:13):
apple cider, you know, and bringthat.
And then your your dinners, Imean, we mentioned the dinners,
but what people don't understandis it's not just the food and
the environment's amazing, butit's what you do after.
Because one of the things Iabsolutely love is everybody
chips in, clears out all thetables out of your barn, and
then you've got the the apple onthe string and the pie eating
(08:34):
contest and the dancing, youknow, and it'd be it's it's a
group of people that cometogether and do something so
fun, almost like a villagecoming together and and just
experience an incredible nightout doing something together
that you can all enjoy.
SPEAKER_02 (08:51):
Yeah, you know, it's it's funny.
I mean, um, having fun, the theconcept of having fun, we're so
passive about the way we consumeentertainment.
We have everything.
We have our iPads, movietheaters.
We're we're used to beingpassive consumers of
entertainment.
But here um we we make you getup and dance, you know, we we
(09:12):
invite you to carve your ownpumpkin, engage in apple
bobbing, you know, and um interms of the farm itself, I I'm
convinced that um there's sortof a mystical connection most
people have to the rhythm offarm life because most of us are
only three or four generationsremoved from the soil.
(09:35):
So when you when you walk acrossan apple farm and you smell that
kind of fermenting smell ofapples that are falling on the
ground and the bees and the thisis rich um texture of the earth
and um you know, horses, um, itit's um I think it it evokes
(09:55):
memories you may not havespecifically, but that are
cultural or spiritual, you know.
So it people feel like they'regoing back home.
SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
Well, I also think it's a matter of digital detox,
too.
Like you said, we're so attachedto so many electronic devices to
take uh four or five hours to toremove yourself from it and
experience it and watch youryour kids running around on the
grass or running through the uhthe pumpkin patch that you have,
(10:25):
which is massive, to pick, youknow, pick a pumpkin, you know,
that experience and just towatch that and experience it is
just you can't describe it.
You don't get that off of yourphone, you don't get that off of
the computer.
That's something you have to goout and do and and and do
physically.
And and I think you see, like Isaid, there's something about
that that dirt, that earthyfeeling that's very spiritual.
(10:48):
And that's one of the thingsI've loved.
And even taking up uh my kids'friends, they were like, oh my
gosh, I mean, it's the besttime.
They you can just see the joy ontheir face and and it's uh it's
good.
I mean, it's it's a good thingto be able to have a place that
you can experience like that.
So before I go any further, Iwanted to uh let everybody know
that's listening if this issomething you would like to
(11:10):
attend or you'd like to go, oreven just visit their website
because Riley's Farm is just somuch more than that.
And I'm gonna give you a littleshout out here, Jimmy, because
this is my favorite.
So I just got some of this andit's the apple cinnamon syrup,
which is my favorite, and andand then your pumpkin syrup.
So if you guys are looking forsomething like this for fall, go
to the Riley's Farm website.
The link is either below oryou're gonna find it in uh
(11:32):
bedded into the podcast where itsays uh Riley's Farm and go
ahead and click on that.
But this is um, these arethings, even if you can't
experience it because you're notin California, you can
experience it anywhere in theworld with um with these
products that you have.
And your apple pies, oh my gosh,your apple pies are amazing.
They are, I mean, and Mrs.
Riley makes the biggest applepies, uh, caramel apple pies,
(11:57):
that are absolutely incredible.
And uh so I just um I wantedjust to give you a shout-out
because I really do believe inyou.
And I know your farm isstruggling.
Um, and I would like to also beable to give a shout out to and
say, listen, there's a there's alink there.
If there's something you wouldlike to do to to help Riley's
farm, please, please, please,please go to the link and and
(12:18):
and click on that and ordersomething or at least experience
it uh virtually through thewebsite.
SPEAKER_02 (12:25):
Yeah, we appreciate that.
You know, we um um one of thethings I was gonna say about the
experience is that uh I learnedearly on as a host that you can
have the best soundtrack in theworld, but it can never replace
live music.
And one of the most touchingthings is to see a young mother,
you know, come up with a baby inher arms and she's introducing
(12:45):
her baby to music.
You know, she's standing rightnext to the fiddler, and it's I
can't put my finger on why thatis so much more satisfying.
I mean, okay, we have access tothe best digital music in the
world, you know, symphonies andyou know, champion uh, you know,
uh um Scottish fiddlers and thatsort of thing, but but live
(13:07):
music is irreplaceable.
And in terms of helping us, umuh business in California is
very, very difficult.
Liability and um and the variousinfrastructure that we have to
pay for is so enormous that wereally have to be a huge
enterprise in order to pay theproperty taxes and just to be
(13:30):
able to live here.
My my wife and I just went offsalary this summer because it
was so expensive.
And so um if if you've beenblessed, and I'm not asking
people who are struggling, butif there are people who've been
tremendously successful and theythey want to see places like
this survive, we do takecontributions.
We're not tax deductible, so youwon't be able to write it off.
(13:52):
But we've just had enormoussupport.
I've raised like$46,000 in thelast four months just from
contributions, and we reallydidn't need it this summer.
So um if you want to see usstick around, you might consider
that.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
Well, and that's why I wanted to do this podcast
because I know I've got quite afew listeners around the world,
and and I truly believe inRiley's Farm, and this is to me
one of the places that needs tostay and be maintained for
families for the future.
Because again, once you onceyou've gone out there and you've
(14:29):
experienced it, it's it leaves amemory that you'll cherish, you
know, not only for being there,but also with your family.
And and I think it's one of thelast few places that that I've
had a chance to go to that stillexists.
So I would like to stay see youaround for many, many, many more
years.
Um, so if you can, and and asMs.
Raleigh said, you know, if youhave been blessed and you have
(14:50):
an opportunity and you can, youknow, offer something and every
little bit helps, you know.
Uh, and I always tell my friendswhenever I'm I'm doing things or
raising money, I'm like, youknow, if you give up a seven
dollar cup of coffee and come onover to my house, I'll make you
one.
And give it to a good cause.
So so you know, think about thattoday.
Next time you order a pumpkinspice latte, think, you know
(15:10):
what?
I could save an apple farm withthis.
SPEAKER_02 (15:12):
So uh it's one of my favorite things to do at the end
of the day of the RevolutionaryWar tour is to um tell those
kids that they don't rememberanything about what they've
they've seen.
Uh we want them to know thatthere were men uh and women who
loved them enough to die forthem.
SPEAKER_00 (15:35):
And you're right.
And that I think the military,and I my family comes from uh I
come from a strong militaryfamily, and and you're right,
and I think people forget thatthere's people out there
sacrificing their lives.
And and somebody had saidsomething to me just recently,
and it really stuck with me.
It said for all through all thewars, whether it's gone through
Revolutionary War or Civil Warand who we are as individuals,
(15:58):
and you know, we've all comefrom somewhere, um our whoever
our family was that went throughall that survived all that to
bring you to where you are nowand who you are today.
So your your family had to gothrough all of that.
And and the same thing when youwhen you start looking backwards
and seeing the history of ofwhere uh maybe your lineage has
(16:21):
come from, somewhere, somewherealong the line, someone had to
experience uh a war that thatbrought you to where you are.
And and you're right, and Ithink history needs to be told
because what's that what do theysay?
You know, if you do history willrepeat itself if you don't learn
from it.
And and I think you know, anymistake you want to learn from
it, so you're not making thesame one over and over again.
(16:42):
But I think having thatknowledge of our history is is
extremely important, you know,and it and it is it's a it's a
fact, it's what would havehappened, it's the experience,
it's the people that died forus, and you know, they they need
that story told.
And uh I don't think it needs tobe changed.
I think it needs to be where itis.
SPEAKER_02 (17:02):
Yeah, I mean I think um certainly you can study
America's mistakes, we need tolearn from those mistakes, but
you also have to, and I thinkthis is really important, you
have to give kids a sense thatthere were tremendous victories
in their past, there'stremendous heroism in their
past.
All you have to do if you reallyever want to fall back in love
(17:24):
with the American tradition isread uh the Medal of Honor
accounts, they're all online.
You read some of the um of theenormous sacrifice that um
Americans made to give us whatwe have.
Um and um we're talking aboutdeprivation and you know,
(17:49):
Japanese prisoner camps and umand tremendous heroism on the
battlefield, and even thepioneers crossing the plains, I
mean, burying children along theway to get out here and to
create.
I mean, I I can guarantee peoplewho criticize American history,
they would not want to live inuh 1840s Arizona, it was not a
(18:12):
hospitable place.
And uh there they had theirancestors to thank for making um
our country livable andprosperous.
SPEAKER_00 (18:21):
Yeah, you're right.
I've and I've had an opportunityto travel across the country,
and when you look out at some ofthese plains, like even going
through Utah and Arizona, and ohmy gosh.
And we I was just I was just outwith a friend, her and I did a
hiking trip, and I said, couldyou imagine having to go through
here in in a uh buggy, you know,pulled drawn by horses and being
a female, being a woman withchildren doing this?
(18:45):
I mean, it would it would be uhit would be extraordinary.
That's that's toughness.
That's not physical toughness,that's mental toughness to be
able to do that and survive andthen still raise your family.
And along the lines, I mean,this was these this land wasn't
even uh really totallydiscovered.
So they were up against allkinds of things and and elements
(19:07):
and weather.
And and you're right.
I mean, just the just theenvironment alone would have
been difficult to deal with, letalone just the struggle of
physically getting there.
SPEAKER_02 (19:16):
Yeah.
Hey and I don't, I don't thinkuh we we take sort of our
cultural values for granted, butbut we're still living on the
cultural capital, for example,that the New Englanders created
when they arrived in the BayColony.
I mean, this very biblicalculture that believed in um hard
work and the Ten Commandments,that created enormous wealth.
(19:40):
Uh, because if you if you livein an honest culture, uh you're
not worried about you knowprotecting your assets all the
time.
You're you're you're worriedabout creating more wealth.
And I think that we we take itfor granted um that it's easier
to do business in America for areason.
There's a reason why people wantto cross the border illegally.
(20:00):
It's because this culture thatwe've we've been blessed with is
more productive than mostcultures on the planet.
unknown (20:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (20:08):
Well, I'm I'm gonna switch gears for a second
because I just got your book andI want to ask you about it
before we run out of time.
Um, I just got this.
I'm looking forward to readingit.
I just received it like two daysago, so I haven't had a chance
to look at it, but I'm lookingforward to to reading it.
So tell me a little bit aboutthis book that you wrote.
SPEAKER_02 (20:25):
Um it was kind of my journey to Radzi's farm,
deciding, you know, um uh how wewould live here and what we were
going to try to accomplish.
But but basically I have thisyou may laugh at this, but I
have this feel I have thisimpression that the years
between 18 and 27 are some ofthe most selfish years in most
(20:47):
people's lives.
I mean, you're young andimmortal, you don't think ever
anything is gonna happen to you.
And uh it was just a um uh storyof my spiritual transformation
transformation from an agnosticto a Christian and um from
someone who didn't reallybelieve in anything to someone
who started remembering all thestories my mother told me when I
(21:09):
was a kid.
So just my story.
SPEAKER_00 (21:12):
Well, I love it.
Yeah, but those are the bestkind of books when they're all
your stories because they comefrom the heart.
And that's you know, so I'mlooking forward to to reading.
And when I come out, because Iwill be out to your event, I
will find you so you can sign itfor me.
Okay.
Sure, sure.
So uh so Jim, is there anythingelse you'd like to share?
And uh again, because we'rewe're we're coming up on time
(21:32):
here, but before we do, please,uh if you would like to support
Riley's Farm, if you'd like tovisit the website, if you'd like
to go out and visit thempersonally, if you're here in
town, um again, link is downbelow.
Or uh please you can find itembedded in the podcast where it
says Riley's Farm.
Just click on it and that'lltake you right to the website.
So I uh thank you so much forbeing with us.
(21:53):
Um I'm looking forward to seeingyou and and a thank you for
many, many years of bringing joyto to not only myself, but to my
family and to to the friends andthe family that I've had an
opportunity to bring.
And uh I wish you many blessingsand and thank you and very
grateful for everything thatyou're you're doing, Mr.
Riley, and for what you've beenthrough, because I know you're
on your own journey with this,and I I really hope that this is
(22:16):
something that becomes part ofyour past based on what's
transpiring with with the courtsand everything else, and you can
just keep moving forward withdoing what you've been doing for
so many years, which is justbringing so much joy to other
people.
SPEAKER_01 (22:29):
Well, I appreciate it, Mickey, very much.
Uh I thank your audience aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (22:34):
All right, you guys, thank you for joining us.
Um, I look forward to hearingfrom you.
And please, again, uh visitRiley's Farm.
And then also, if you have anyquestions or comments you'd like
to leave for me, please makesure that you do down below.
And um, I will look forward toseeing each and every one of
you.
And remember, the mostcourageous thing you can do is
be yourself.
Until then, I'll see you.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
Hey, I'm Coach Mickey, and I'm so glad that
you've joined us.
And if this is your first timejoining us, come on in and make
yourself comfortable.
And for those of you that joinus on a regular basis, we are so
glad that you do.
And we're extremely happy tohear your comments, your
questions, and your suggestions.
And I love the fact that eachand every one of you take the
opportunity to reach out to myguests.
And today is no differentbecause this is a guest that I'm
(00:25):
very excited to have and I'mvery honored to have because I
know his time is very valuable.
However, this has been a part ofmy life and my family's life for
many, many years.
And to bring Mr.
Riley onto my podcast is goingto be a pleasure and fun and
give you guys some insight ofsomething that you may not know
is even here in SouthernCalifornia, where you can bring
(00:48):
your family to do someincredible things.
I am talking about Riley's Farm.
Riley's Farm is an amazing placefor your family.
We've gone apple picking everyyear.
We have done all their events.
And if you are looking for aplace for your family, it you
will be amazed.
So thank you, Mr.
Riley, for joining us today.
I really appreciate you.
SPEAKER_02 (01:08):
Thanks for having me.
Appreciate it very much.
SPEAKER_00 (01:11):
So I know Riley's Farm is a little bit unique.
That's a lot unique, actually,than anything else that you
would find.
So I just would like to ask, sowhat um what inspired you to
start this colonial way of uhbringing this to life to
everybody on a regular basis?
SPEAKER_02 (01:29):
Well, it was a little bit serendipitous.
Um my uh my parents uh met outuh in California in World War II
in San Francisco, and um theymoved to Southern California.
And uh at the time in the late40s, early 50s, Southern
California was actually a prettyrural place.
Um they lived in Arcadia for awhile.
(01:50):
It was all um cornfields andchicken coops back then.
It was a pretty ruralenvironment.
And and uh my dad bought a ranchin Yukaipa uh in the 50s, it was
kind of our vacation placethrough the 60s, and um and then
some land came up for sale inOak Glenn.
And Oakland is uh an applegrowing area, has been since the
(02:13):
1880s or so, and uh the familykept buying land until we
amassed about um 760 acresaltogether, and we uh were
approached because we had thesebig open fields by Civil War
enactors to do a uh Civil Warbattle reenactment.
And one thing led to another.
I I when we built our home, Ialways loved the 18th century,
(02:36):
so my wife and I built um acolonial style home, and uh we
were going to do 18th centurydinner theater, and that was uh
doing all right, but but reallynot taking up as fast as we
wanted to, and we wereapproached by two mothers of
fifth graders to a uhRevolutionary War program for
children, and I always thoughtthat wouldn't work because when
(03:00):
I was a kid they just took us tomuseums and bakeries and and I
couldn't see California kids,you know, uh with uh fake
muskets going off to battle, andum, and yet it it just exploded
in popularity.
We were within three or fouryears we were sending 80,000
students a year in um livinghistory uh for colonial America
(03:23):
and um and then extended to manyof our other programs.
We had already started uh SleepyHollow, which is our most
popular show, and uh and LivingHistory just kind of became the
theme of the place.
We it's it's a place where youcan come and see uh Gold Rush,
uh Civil War or AmericanRevolutionary or Living History
(03:44):
of various forms.
It kind of just basicallydeveloped uh um through chance.
SPEAKER_00 (03:52):
Well, it's it's amazing.
Um, I've had an opportunitymyself with my family, like I
said, to experience not onlyyour farm, uh to go up and and
apple pick, but also to uh getour pumpkins and then also you
know do uh pressing the applecider.
I mean, it's a full experience.
And and through the years withwith my two kids, I've had the
(04:13):
opportunity to bring them up andand multiple of friends of
theirs, and each and every time,you know, we leave and and it's
it we it's such joy.
And you make your farm makes youfeel like family uh when you
come.
And I've had an opportunity todo your your dinner events, and
they are nothing like I've everexperienced because they're so
inclusive.
And and I've it's a it's a andit's an experience, I guess.
(04:35):
If I have to tell you anything,it's something that you leave
with a smile on your face, anduh we get excited every year to
to come up and experience this.
But I I know your farm also,besides that, and you're being
humble because you've gotamazing food too.
Your your food and your dinnersare are incredible, and the
people and the staff doeverything they can to make you
(04:56):
feel like you're in a colonialenvironment, and and it's
they're very inviting and andfriendly.
SPEAKER_02 (05:02):
Oh, we we like hearing that.
We we want we want to hit on alleight cylinders, and we do have
and we do have uh greatbarbecue, and really in terms of
uh the environment, I alwaystell the employees that the
subtext here is love.
You have to you have to loveyour guests, basically.
And um, and so we tend toattract a lot of really great
(05:23):
young kids who work for us.
And uh we're as I was saying theother day, we've been urged to
have a singles event because somany people have met and married
here on that.
Um we're thinking about havingone of our dances be dedicated
to to singles.
SPEAKER_00 (05:40):
So that's fun.
Well, what a what a great thingto hear that people have
actually met there.
What a what a great environmentto meet someone because again,
it's so wholesome and and uhlike I said, there's so much to
do when you're out on your farm.
And it's and it's beautiful.
Your farm is beautiful.
I mean, I know um you justrecently had something where we
had the meteor shower.
(06:00):
I saw where you could actuallycome up and and uh sit outside
and and watch the meteor shower,and that was new.
I don't know if I that that wassomething you've done before or
if that was just something newyou just offered.
I just happened to see that onyour website.
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
This is the second year for that.
We um um were a little bit awayfrom the light pollution.
So you people kept remarkingthat they get to see a pretty uh
pristine summer sky.
So on uh moonless nights, it'sactually pretty dramatic.
We we this last one and it wasfunny, it was a full moon, so it
wasn't as dramatic a sky, butpeople just uh liked hanging out
(06:35):
and uh having dinner and sittingon the lawn until one or two in
the morning.
So it was um it's it was areally great, great group of
people.
And we've we've just beenblessed with with wonderful
guests, I mean, who've supportedus over the years.
So, and you know, in terms of umbeing wholesome, you know, it's
not that hard to do anymore inSouthern California.
(06:56):
I mean, we live in the era ofdrag queen story hour and all
kinds of and uh dramaticincidents of craziness or
whatever.
So I think the people they justlike to feel like they're gonna
go going back to grandma's houseon some level.
SPEAKER_00 (07:12):
Well, and I think it's also family.
It's very family-orientedbecause a lot of things, things
around here, I should say, evenin Southern California, is is
very um theme-oriented.
I mean, well, yours istheme-oriented, but it's a
different feel.
It's completely different.
It's a completely differentfeel.
It is not packing in people andand uh just running them
(07:32):
through.
You it it's you have a home, youhave a place.
It's like going into someone'shome and and you do it with
respect too.
I mean, and that's what it is.
Your farm is your home.
And uh, but the way the groundsare set up, and like you said,
the the staff that's there andhaving the opportunity to apple
pick.
I mean, I think now these days,kids, I mean, they they think
(07:53):
that getting fruit is going tothe market, but having an
experience to be able to go pickberries or or pick the apples.
And then um, and one of myfavorite things that we do as a
family is you have those bigbushels of apples that and you
take them, you put them in thatold-fashioned press.
And my kids got such a kick outof being able to press their own
(08:13):
apple cider, you know, and bringthat.
And then your your dinners, Imean, we mentioned the dinners,
but what people don't understandis it's not just the food and
the environment's amazing, butit's what you do after.
Because one of the things Iabsolutely love is everybody
chips in, clears out all thetables out of your barn, and
then you've got the the apple onthe string and the pie eating
(08:34):
contest and the dancing, youknow, and it'd be it's it's a
group of people that cometogether and do something so
fun, almost like a villagecoming together and and just
experience an incredible nightout doing something together
that you can all enjoy.
SPEAKER_02 (08:51):
Yeah, you know, it's it's funny.
I mean, um, having fun, the theconcept of having fun, we're so
passive about the way we consumeentertainment.
We have everything.
We have our iPads, movietheaters.
We're we're used to beingpassive consumers of
entertainment.
But here um we we make you getup and dance, you know, we we
(09:12):
invite you to carve your ownpumpkin, engage in apple
bobbing, you know, and um interms of the farm itself, I I'm
convinced that um there's sortof a mystical connection most
people have to the rhythm offarm life because most of us are
only three or four generationsremoved from the soil.
(09:35):
So when you when you walk acrossan apple farm and you smell that
kind of fermenting smell ofapples that are falling on the
ground and the bees and the thisis rich um texture of the earth
and um you know, horses, um, itit's um I think it it evokes
(09:55):
memories you may not havespecifically, but that are
cultural or spiritual, you know.
So it people feel like they'regoing back home.
SPEAKER_00 (10:04):
Well, I also think it's a matter of digital detox,
too.
Like you said, we're so attachedto so many electronic devices to
take uh four or five hours to toremove yourself from it and
experience it and watch youryour kids running around on the
grass or running through the uhthe pumpkin patch that you have,
(10:25):
which is massive, to pick, youknow, pick a pumpkin, you know,
that experience and just towatch that and experience it is
just you can't describe it.
You don't get that off of yourphone, you don't get that off of
the computer.
That's something you have to goout and do and and and do
physically.
And and I think you see, like Isaid, there's something about
that that dirt, that earthyfeeling that's very spiritual.
(10:48):
And that's one of the thingsI've loved.
And even taking up uh my kids'friends, they were like, oh my
gosh, I mean, it's the besttime.
They you can just see the joy ontheir face and and it's uh it's
good.
I mean, it's it's a good thingto be able to have a place that
you can experience like that.
So before I go any further, Iwanted to uh let everybody know
that's listening if this issomething you would like to
(11:10):
attend or you'd like to go, oreven just visit their website
because Riley's Farm is just somuch more than that.
And I'm gonna give you a littleshout out here, Jimmy, because
this is my favorite.
So I just got some of this andit's the apple cinnamon syrup,
which is my favorite, and andand then your pumpkin syrup.
So if you guys are looking forsomething like this for fall, go
to the Riley's Farm website.
The link is either below oryou're gonna find it in uh
(11:32):
bedded into the podcast where itsays uh Riley's Farm and go
ahead and click on that.
But this is um, these arethings, even if you can't
experience it because you're notin California, you can
experience it anywhere in theworld with um with these
products that you have.
And your apple pies, oh my gosh,your apple pies are amazing.
They are, I mean, and Mrs.
Riley makes the biggest applepies, uh, caramel apple pies,
(11:57):
that are absolutely incredible.
And uh so I just um I wantedjust to give you a shout-out
because I really do believe inyou.
And I know your farm isstruggling.
Um, and I would like to also beable to give a shout out to and
say, listen, there's a there's alink there.
If there's something you wouldlike to do to to help Riley's
farm, please, please, please,please go to the link and and
(12:18):
and click on that and ordersomething or at least experience
it uh virtually through thewebsite.
SPEAKER_02 (12:25):
Yeah, we appreciate that.
You know, we um um one of thethings I was gonna say about the
experience is that uh I learnedearly on as a host that you can
have the best soundtrack in theworld, but it can never replace
live music.
And one of the most touchingthings is to see a young mother,
you know, come up with a baby inher arms and she's introducing
(12:45):
her baby to music.
You know, she's standing rightnext to the fiddler, and it's I
can't put my finger on why thatis so much more satisfying.
I mean, okay, we have access tothe best digital music in the
world, you know, symphonies andyou know, champion uh, you know,
uh um Scottish fiddlers and thatsort of thing, but but live
(13:07):
music is irreplaceable.
And in terms of helping us, umuh business in California is
very, very difficult.
Liability and um and the variousinfrastructure that we have to
pay for is so enormous that wereally have to be a huge
enterprise in order to pay theproperty taxes and just to be
(13:30):
able to live here.
My my wife and I just went offsalary this summer because it
was so expensive.
And so um if if you've beenblessed, and I'm not asking
people who are struggling, butif there are people who've been
tremendously successful and theythey want to see places like
this survive, we do takecontributions.
We're not tax deductible, so youwon't be able to write it off.
(13:52):
But we've just had enormoussupport.
I've raised like$46,000 in thelast four months just from
contributions, and we reallydidn't need it this summer.
So um if you want to see usstick around, you might consider
that.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
Well, and that's why I wanted to do this podcast
because I know I've got quite afew listeners around the world,
and and I truly believe inRiley's Farm, and this is to me
one of the places that needs tostay and be maintained for
families for the future.
Because again, once you onceyou've gone out there and you've
(14:29):
experienced it, it's it leaves amemory that you'll cherish, you
know, not only for being there,but also with your family.
And and I think it's one of thelast few places that that I've
had a chance to go to that stillexists.
So I would like to stay see youaround for many, many, many more
years.
Um, so if you can, and and asMs.
Raleigh said, you know, if youhave been blessed and you have
(14:50):
an opportunity and you can, youknow, offer something and every
little bit helps, you know.
Uh, and I always tell my friendswhenever I'm I'm doing things or
raising money, I'm like, youknow, if you give up a seven
dollar cup of coffee and come onover to my house, I'll make you
one.
And give it to a good cause.
So so you know, think about thattoday.
Next time you order a pumpkinspice latte, think, you know
(15:10):
what?
I could save an apple farm withthis.
SPEAKER_02 (15:12):
So uh it's one of my favorite things to do at the end
of the day of the RevolutionaryWar tour is to um tell those
kids that they don't rememberanything about what they've
they've seen.
Uh we want them to know thatthere were men uh and women who
loved them enough to die forthem.
SPEAKER_00 (15:35):
And you're right.
And that I think the military,and I my family comes from uh I
come from a strong militaryfamily, and and you're right,
and I think people forget thatthere's people out there
sacrificing their lives.
And and somebody had saidsomething to me just recently,
and it really stuck with me.
It said for all through all thewars, whether it's gone through
Revolutionary War or Civil Warand who we are as individuals,
(15:58):
and you know, we've all comefrom somewhere, um our whoever
our family was that went throughall that survived all that to
bring you to where you are nowand who you are today.
So your your family had to gothrough all of that.
And and the same thing when youwhen you start looking backwards
and seeing the history of ofwhere uh maybe your lineage has
(16:21):
come from, somewhere, somewherealong the line, someone had to
experience uh a war that thatbrought you to where you are.
And and you're right, and Ithink history needs to be told
because what's that what do theysay?
You know, if you do history willrepeat itself if you don't learn
from it.
And and I think you know, anymistake you want to learn from
it, so you're not making thesame one over and over again.
(16:42):
But I think having thatknowledge of our history is is
extremely important, you know,and it and it is it's a it's a
fact, it's what would havehappened, it's the experience,
it's the people that died forus, and you know, they they need
that story told.
And uh I don't think it needs tobe changed.
I think it needs to be where itis.
SPEAKER_02 (17:02):
Yeah, I mean I think um certainly you can study
America's mistakes, we need tolearn from those mistakes, but
you also have to, and I thinkthis is really important, you
have to give kids a sense thatthere were tremendous victories
in their past, there'stremendous heroism in their
past.
All you have to do if you reallyever want to fall back in love
(17:24):
with the American tradition isread uh the Medal of Honor
accounts, they're all online.
You read some of the um of theenormous sacrifice that um
Americans made to give us whatwe have.
Um and um we're talking aboutdeprivation and you know,
(17:49):
Japanese prisoner camps and umand tremendous heroism on the
battlefield, and even thepioneers crossing the plains, I
mean, burying children along theway to get out here and to
create.
I mean, I I can guarantee peoplewho criticize American history,
they would not want to live inuh 1840s Arizona, it was not a
(18:12):
hospitable place.
And uh there they had theirancestors to thank for making um
our country livable andprosperous.
SPEAKER_00 (18:21):
Yeah, you're right.
I've and I've had an opportunityto travel across the country,
and when you look out at some ofthese plains, like even going
through Utah and Arizona, and ohmy gosh.
And we I was just I was just outwith a friend, her and I did a
hiking trip, and I said, couldyou imagine having to go through
here in in a uh buggy, you know,pulled drawn by horses and being
a female, being a woman withchildren doing this?
(18:45):
I mean, it would it would be uhit would be extraordinary.
That's that's toughness.
That's not physical toughness,that's mental toughness to be
able to do that and survive andthen still raise your family.
And along the lines, I mean,this was these this land wasn't
even uh really totallydiscovered.
So they were up against allkinds of things and and elements
(19:07):
and weather.
And and you're right.
I mean, just the just theenvironment alone would have
been difficult to deal with, letalone just the struggle of
physically getting there.
SPEAKER_02 (19:16):
Yeah.
Hey and I don't, I don't thinkuh we we take sort of our
cultural values for granted, butbut we're still living on the
cultural capital, for example,that the New Englanders created
when they arrived in the BayColony.
I mean, this very biblicalculture that believed in um hard
work and the Ten Commandments,that created enormous wealth.
(19:40):
Uh, because if you if you livein an honest culture, uh you're
not worried about you knowprotecting your assets all the
time.
You're you're you're worriedabout creating more wealth.
And I think that we we take itfor granted um that it's easier
to do business in America for areason.
There's a reason why people wantto cross the border illegally.
(20:00):
It's because this culture thatwe've we've been blessed with is
more productive than mostcultures on the planet.
unknown (20:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (20:08):
Well, I'm I'm gonna switch gears for a second
because I just got your book andI want to ask you about it
before we run out of time.
Um, I just got this.
I'm looking forward to readingit.
I just received it like two daysago, so I haven't had a chance
to look at it, but I'm lookingforward to to reading it.
So tell me a little bit aboutthis book that you wrote.
SPEAKER_02 (20:25):
Um it was kind of my journey to Radzi's farm,
deciding, you know, um uh how wewould live here and what we were
going to try to accomplish.
But but basically I have thisyou may laugh at this, but I
have this feel I have thisimpression that the years
between 18 and 27 are some ofthe most selfish years in most
(20:47):
people's lives.
I mean, you're young andimmortal, you don't think ever
anything is gonna happen to you.
And uh it was just a um uh storyof my spiritual transformation
transformation from an agnosticto a Christian and um from
someone who didn't reallybelieve in anything to someone
who started remembering all thestories my mother told me when I
(21:09):
was a kid.
So just my story.
SPEAKER_00 (21:12):
Well, I love it.
Yeah, but those are the bestkind of books when they're all
your stories because they comefrom the heart.
And that's you know, so I'mlooking forward to to reading.
And when I come out, because Iwill be out to your event, I
will find you so you can sign itfor me.
Okay.
Sure, sure.
So uh so Jim, is there anythingelse you'd like to share?
And uh again, because we'rewe're we're coming up on time
(21:32):
here, but before we do, please,uh if you would like to support
Riley's Farm, if you'd like tovisit the website, if you'd like
to go out and visit thempersonally, if you're here in
town, um again, link is downbelow.
Or uh please you can find itembedded in the podcast where it
says Riley's Farm.
Just click on it and that'lltake you right to the website.
So I uh thank you so much forbeing with us.
(21:53):
Um I'm looking forward to seeingyou and and a thank you for
many, many years of bringing joyto to not only myself, but to my
family and to to the friends andthe family that I've had an
opportunity to bring.
And uh I wish you many blessingsand and thank you and very
grateful for everything thatyou're you're doing, Mr.
Riley, and for what you've beenthrough, because I know you're
on your own journey with this,and I I really hope that this is
(22:16):
something that becomes part ofyour past based on what's
transpiring with with the courtsand everything else, and you can
just keep moving forward withdoing what you've been doing for
so many years, which is justbringing so much joy to other
people.
SPEAKER_01 (22:29):
Well, I appreciate it, Mickey, very much.
Uh I thank your audience aswell.
SPEAKER_00 (22:34):
All right, you guys, thank you for joining us.
Um, I look forward to hearingfrom you.
And please, again, uh visitRiley's Farm.
And then also, if you have anyquestions or comments you'd like
to leave for me, please makesure that you do down below.
And um, I will look forward toseeing each and every one of
you.
And remember, the mostcourageous thing you can do is
be yourself.
Until then, I'll see you.
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