The first clipping is from March 16, 1924 and reveals that Jue Joe has a sixty acre asparagus farm in West Van Nuys and reports receiving as much as $1.50 a pound for his first shipments! That is an amazing price for aspragus at that time . For comparison ,while working in the Marysville and St. Helena wineries Jue Joe made a salary of 50 cents a day and while working on the railroad he made $1 a day .
The second clipping is from September 13, 1925 . It shows that Jue Joe also is leasing land in Fillmore along the Santa Clara river and is farming potatoes and tomatoes .
The third clipping is from October 12, 1925 and is interesting in that it lists Jue Joe as a director of the San Fernando Valley Asparagus Marketing Association .
The secretary of the organization at that time is listed as Thomas D. Chung whom I think is my grand uncle on my Dad's mother's side.
The 60-acre farm of Jue Joe's was the ranch he had on Balboa and Roscoe Blvds., in Reseda (an area then called "West Van Nuys"). It appears that he was testing his theory that asparagus was his profitable future. Understanding the bell-curve of ROI, now, Jue Joe contintued his potato farming and other crops until his asparagus reached the point of maturity and would gross a high yield in profits. Then he switched to his new crop. The 300-acre Van Nuys ranch was purchased in 1920, and by 1925, it was ready for its first harvest. Jue Joe always thought long-term and knew that with paitence it would pay off. He taught his son San Tong to think this way. And so Jue Joe and San Tong grew asparagus as their main crop, and the rest became history. Auntie Soo-Yin.
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