Amadio Ranch

If you trace the story back, you’ll discover that a horse is responsible for the existence of Amadio Ranch. That horse belonged to the ranch’s co-owner, Christina Amadio. According to her husband, Eric, Christina had been boarding the equine elsewhere for a while, and in 2009, the couple decided to purchase acreage in Laveen, southwest of Phoenix, so they could board it themselves. 

After they moved in, Eric realized the potential the property held. “The first time we ran flood irrigation, that water just came flowing into the property,” he recalls. “I said to myself, ‘We have to do something better than grow grass.’ ”

And they did. The Amadios (pictured) started a garden that resulted in so much produce, they couldn’t keep up. “We’d give it away to the neighbors until the neighbors started hiding becazzause they were tired of the zucchini,” Eric jokes. “One day, my wife said, ‘Why don’t you put a little A-frame [sign] out and see if anyone wants to buy it?’ ”

Reluctantly, Eric followed the suggestion. To his surprise, people did want to buy their produce. “We were like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty neat,’ ” he recalls. “Not only did we get the joy of growing all this stuff, but you can bring other people joy, too.” 

In the beginning, the Amadios were selling only fruits and vegetables. They expanded into producing their own honey and making jams before eventually venturing into selling pies, which now are the farm’s biggest sellers. “Up until then, it was kind of just a hobby; after that, it became a business,” Eric says. “The pies just took off, and now, probably 85 to 90 percent of our business is pies.”

The famous pies are Christina’s recipes and are available in a variety of seasonal flavors, including savory pot pies. Eric estimates the ranch sells 300 to 400 pies a week via on-site sales, online orders and farmers markets. 

Rebecca Perrera met the Amadios in 2014 when they were selling honey and jam at a local event, before the farm expanded to pies and other products. From the beginning, she says, she’s enjoyed the small-town feel of the business. “It’s a small operation with a big punch,” she says. “I can trust that their products are made with real and simple ingredients.” Perrera says her family has been purchasing honey from Amadio Ranch for years and now loves buying their pies, too. 

The Amadios have opened up the ranch to anyone who wants to visit the animals and orchards, and they welcome people to enjoy picnics and take their family and friends to explore. Perrera encourages people to pay a visit and see for themselves: “Feed the goats, grab a fork with your pie and eat it at the picnic tables. You won’t regret it.”

Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of Amadio Ranch is the honor system on which the store operates. The self-serve area has coolers filled with pies, jams, honey and other food items with price stickers. Guests are welcome to grab what they like and pay cash via the payment jar, or they can make a payment electronically using a money-transferring app. “People can pay what they pay, but they’re completely unsupervised,” Eric says. “It works. It’s not perfect. We do have theft, but it’s very infrequent.”

Community is at the heart of everything Eric and Christina do. “We didn’t have money coming into this,” Eric says. “We are not wealthy people. Everything that happened was all due to community support.” And as they continue to grow the business, Eric says many of the things they do, such as visits with Santa Claus during the holidays, are spurred by suggestions from community members.  

And as the farm grows, so does the Amadios’ expertise. For example, Eric started using vintage trucks to display products during farmers markets, and as a result, he now has learned to work on old trucks. “The learning curve never stops, because we never stop expanding and adding new things,” he says. 

Among those additions are food trucks that are on-site to serve dinner in the evenings. The Amadios want people to think of their place as a “foodie hot spot” and somewhere they can take their families. 

As for Eric and Christina, they’re still in awe of what their property — which started out as a home for a horse — has become. “Neither of us figured this was going to be our life,” Eric says. “We just giggle about it all the time. We love it.”