Citrus groves once spread across metro Phoenix, supplying packing houses in the area with oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit and other varieties. Development paved over many of the original groves ...

Citrus was more an aspirational 'C', and while growth has pushed out most groves, speciality farms are adding juice to the industry.

In addition to his citrus fields, he has managed a packing house since 2008 — fittingly off of Orange Avenue. His citrus-packing business, Feek Family Citrus, ships an average of 800,000 oranges ...

Robert "Rocky" Curtis, brother to Spike and president of Mission Citrus, thinks the family will stay in the business for a while because they need to feed the packing house. They keep about 40% of ...