Our Beginnings

The Gursky family has been involved in agriculture for three generations. My grandfather, Nathan, and my dad, Ephraim, formed the original "Gursky and Son" ranch with a dairy on Empire Mine Road in Antioch and farmland on Orwood Tract in the Delta. The dairy grew into a feedlot and the business became "Gursky and Sons Livestock Company"  in 1968 after my brother, Barry, and I graduated from agricultural management programs at Cal Poly and Davis. Unfortunately, in 1975, the cattle market declined, we lost the ranch to the bank and moved into Brentwood, finding other employment and starting over.

Gursky Ranch and Country Store

Seeking to get back to my farming roots, in 1979 Lynn and I, our two boys, two cats and our dog moved out to the country and into our new home on a walnut ranch. We didn't know much about growing walnuts or marketing them, but with help from farmer friends, consultation from UC Davis and other authorities, we soon were educated about how to grow and manage our crop. We started out by marketing our first crop from our garage in 1980. We now have a fourth generation represented in the business with the addition of daughter-in-law, Sarah, as our product manager.

Over the years we had many requests for additional products which created the need to expand and improve our store. We now offer a huge assortment of dried fruits, nuts, candies, gourmet items and gift baskets. We have well over 360 items now, including  the largest assortment of food gifts in East County during the Fall holiday season!