Real Farmers, Real Food

 

There is something grounding about pulling up to Larry's Produce on a summer morning in Suisun Valley.

The valley is already warm by nine o'clock. Families are loading up on tomatoes, stone fruit, and sweet corn before the heat of the day sets in. The smell of something good drifts from the direction of the BBQ. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, the Pony Express-o is fired up and ready to pour -- parked next to a lovely patio on the corner, overlooking the vineyards and rolling hillsides that make Suisun Valley one of the most beautiful agricultural landscapes in Northern California.

This is where we belong right now -- and I want to tell you why.

How We Got Here

Earlier this summer, I drove out to Suisun Valley Road and introduced myself to Larry Balestra. I told him who I was, what the Pony Express-o is, and how every drink we pour -- not just the coffee -- is sourced directly from farmers we know by name. I explained the farm-to-cup mission and made the case for why his farm stand and our coffee trailer were a natural fit. He listened, he was gracious about it, and he said I was welcome to set up in his lot.

It was that simple. Because Larry Balestra is that kind of farmer.

About Larry

Larry is a fourth-generation farmer whose grandfather emigrated from Italy, settling in Green Valley where he farmed cherries and peaches. Larry studied crop science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo -- his wife Lisa studied agricultural business there too -- and in the summer of 1986, they opened their produce stand on Suisun Valley Road with 40 acres and one employee.

Today, Larry's Produce spans more than 1,200 acres and employs approximately 80 people at peak season. They grow wheat, safflower, garbanzo beans, canario beans, and 110 acres of pumpkins every fall. Their goal, as Larry has always described it, is simple: "To sell what people need, the basics."

That philosophy is exactly what drew me to him. We are both in the business of honoring what the land produces and the people who tend it. We just happen to come at it from different angles.

Real Farmers, Real Food

Here is what I want you to understand about the Pony Express-o: any coffee trailer can show up and serve drinks. What makes ours different is the sourcing behind every single ingredient in every single cup.

When you order a hot chocolate from us, you are drinking single-origin Ecuadorian cacao from CocoaSupply -- a family business now in its fifth generation, rooted in a woman named Celsa who inherited her family's farm in the Los Rios province of Ecuador and ran it with vision and determination long before it was common for women to lead in business. Her great-granddaughter carries that legacy forward today. The cacao is fairly traded, minimally processed, and sourced directly from small farms and cooperatives. The maple sugar that sweetens it comes from Baird Farm in Chittenden, Vermont -- a family operation where Bob Baird, his daughter Jenna, and her partner Jacob Powsner tap more than 14,000 trees and have grown a certified organic maple operation over multiple generations.

When you order a chai or a black tea, those leaves come from Chemparathy Estate in the Western Ghats of Kerala, India -- a family farm in the Idukki district where Josh Chemparathy and his family cultivate cardamom beneath a native forest canopy and partner with neighboring small estates and tea gardens to preserve the agricultural knowledge of their region. As Josh puts it: "Farming isn't just about producing ingredients -- it's about preserving generations of agricultural knowledge, building long-term partnerships, and creating products that connect people to the place they come from." I could not have said it better myself.

And when you order a hot cider or an apple cider spritzer -- that farmstead concentrate comes from Mountain Cider Company in Chittenden, Vermont, where Bill Gormly first figured out how to concentrate apple cider into a thick syrup using a maple evaporator borrowed from neighboring farms more than 30 years ago. His son Will carries it forward now. And here is a detail that still delights me: Baird Farm and Mountain Cider Company are neighbors in the same small Vermont town. The families went to school together. I sourced from both of them independently before I ever knew they were connected.

That is the kind of thing that happens when you source with intention. The world gets a little smaller, and the connections reveal themselves.

Come Find Us

The Pony Express-o has been at Larry's since opening week of the 2026 season, and as of July 19th we are locked into a regular schedule: Saturday through Tuesday, 9am to noon, on Suisun Valley Road in Suisun Valley.  Our schedule is anchored Saturday through Tuesday, but life as a mobile cafe means occasional shifts for events, coffee tastings, and special commitments. Follow us on Instagram -- we post schedule updates in our stories so you never have to guess.

Now that we have a consistent daily location, we have activated our Joe Coffee app. Customers can order ahead, earn rewards points, and even pre-load funds for a seamless pickup experience -- no waiting, just great coffee. It is a benefit for everyone, including Larry's staff, who can place an order and make a quick run out to the mobile cafe between tasks.

We will be at Larry's through the end of the season, just before Thanksgiving. After that, we make our annual move to Silveyville Christmas Tree Farm in Dixon - a farm family we have been proud to serve for three seasons now, and we are looking forward to making this our fourth.

Real farmers. Real food. Come say hello.

-- Kelly Abbott Q-Grader, SCA-Certified Roaster Unleashed Coffee Co LLC