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EARLY IN THEIR MARRIAGE IN 1971, John and Renee Linn decided to live out their lives on a farm. For years, they had driven through the Midwest farmlands admiring and longing for a healthy life working together as a family. With their minds made up, they bundled up newborn son Justin, packed their books and student loans into a '64 VW bug, and headed for Denver. They were determined to make enough money to buy into their version of the American dream.
      After finding no job available in a bad national economy, John borrowed $750 to put a down payment on a service station where he not only sold gas at the height of the oil crisis, but specialized in foreign car repair. There was plenty of work — often 110 hours a week! The couple began to plan in earnest for a farm by deciding that in five years they would leave Denver with their family and a nest egg.
      In 1975, the Linns visited Cambria, California for the wedding of a high school buddy whose parents had a small farm on Santa Rosa Creek Road. They fell in love with the pristine beauty, emerald green hills, and lush valley. As they were leaving for home back in Denver, their friend's mother pointed out a parcel across the road that was for sale. They drove past the property . . . just to look. But on the flight back to Denver, they couldn't get the beauty of Cambria's hills out of their heads. As soon as the plane landed, they called and bought the land over the phone. It was a crazy thing to do! They didn't have the down payment let alone the money to pay the mortgage and taxes. And things were even more complicated — the family had grown to include son Aaron, and Renee was pregnant with their third child, daughter Aimee. Undaunted, a year later the Linns sold everything and moved to California to begin the hard work of farm life. They had reached their five-year goal right on schedule!
      When the Linns arrived in Cambria in 1976, they felt elated and carefree. Nothing could dampen their spirits. They moved a little (8' x 32') 1952 trailer onto the farm and all five Linns moved in. They refurbished an old well on the property, learned to run trenchers, drive tractors, plant fruit trees, and build water systems and fences.
      Both John and Renee worked on and off the farm to make ends meet. By 1979, it hit home that without doing something pretty imaginative — and soon, they would not survive, let alone succeed. They needed a cash crop to give them desperately needed income or their farm dreams were doomed. They decided to open a Pick-Your-Own with berries and vegetables. It was a success!

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      Many people came out to the farm, now called Linn's Fruit Bin. As it grew more prosperous, Renee turned her attention to creating Linn's Fruit Preserves and Pies which were widely embraced due to their intensely fresh fruit flavor. One flavor became a particular favorite with customers. It was based on a then unheard of fruit — the Olallieberry — a cross of a blackberry and a raspberry. This turned out to be the cornerstone of Linn's success.
      Over the years, Renee continued to create recipes highlighting the Olallieberry for dessert fillings, curds, jellies, sauces, fruit butters, baking mixes, wines, teas, vinegars and a wide array of desserts.
      Nowadays, along with the ever popular Olallieberry, the Linns grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables on their farm. Seasonal citrus, berries, apples, apricots, lettuce, herbs, vegetables, tomatoes, and avocados come directly from the Linn's and neighboring farms to be made into delicious food products, meals, and desserts for Linn's customers.
      Linn's has grown from the original Farmstore on Santa Rosa Creek Road to include four more downtown Cambria locations: Linn's Restaurant on Main Street; and, Easy as Pie Café, Gourmet Goods, and HomeStyle Gifts and Sale Loft, all on Bridge Street. Linn's products are also available in many California Central Coast and Central Valley supermarkets, Costco, Linn's mail order catalog, and linnsfruitbin.com.
      Linn's now offers its own grown FarmFresh® produce and Linn's TakeAway Barbecue - both sold at Cambria's colorful, open air Farmer's Market on Friday afternoons.
      Linn’s Restaurant opened it’s doors for the first time in Cambria in the summer of 1989. We’re proud to celebrate thirty successful years of delicious in Cambria. Welcome and thank you for joining us here today!

                  Oh, that's real good . . . it's Linn's!