Center Open to Public for Picking White Grapefruit

The historic Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center in West Hills will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. today for people to pick grapefruit.

Run by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, the ranch usually opens its orange and grapefruit groves for public picking only once a year during summer.

But a surplus of white grapefruit prompted Recreation and Parks officials to allow another day of picking.

Participants are urged to bring their own fruit pickers, bags and boxes. People without a fruit picker may rent one for $1.

Only A-frame ladders will be allowed and tree climbing will not be permitted.

A fee of $2 will be charged for each grocery bagful of grapefruit and $5 per medium-size fruit box.

The Orcutt Ranch was once the home of Mary and William Warren Orcutt. He was a Union Oil executive who discovered the bones of an ancient ground sloth at the La Brea tar pits, and is considered one of the fathers of modern geology.

He was also the head of the Canoga Park Citrus Assn. and surrounded his property with grapefruit and orange trees.

The Department of Recreation and Parks purchased the estate in 1966 and it has been open to the public since 1969.

The ranch is at 23600 Roscoe Blvd., between Fallbrook Avenue and Valley Circle Boulevard. For more information, call (818) 883-6641.