At L.A. Countys largest Black-owned farm, healing grows from the ground up

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Upon exiting the 14 freeway to Bloom Ranch in Acton, a small unincorporated community on the northeastern edge of L.A.County, the landscape opens into high-desert quiet.

Nestled here, amid dusty roads and long stretches of land punctuated by an occasional home, lies Bloom Ranch, a 250-acre expanse that became the largest Black-owned farm in the county when Dr.Bill Releford purchased it in 2023.Neat rows of collard greens and kale stretch across irrigated beds, while orchards of peach trees — the ranch’s signature fruit — appear throughout the property.

In just two years, the farm has become a beacon for Black Angelenos and visitors seeking community and a deeper understanding of farming.The farmland was established in 1891 by Swiss stonecutter George Blum, and stayed in his family for five generations until 2018.Another farming family, the Zieglers, operated the ranch until Releford purchased it, and changed its name to Bloom Ranch in honor of the original owner.Releford, a podiatric surgeon, singer and author committed to reconnecting communities to land and food, often reflects on whether his ancestors would be proud.“The economic strength of this country was built on the backs of enslaved Africans,” he says.

“As the third steward of this land, I think about in 1891, what was the condition of my people at that time? What was my great-great-grandfather’s life like? And I think, would they be proud of me knowing that their great great grandson, or child, has had the baton passed to him to manage a land of this magnitude?”Visitors can explore Bloom Ranch through guided walking and driving tours that wind through orchards and fields while tracing the ranch’s layered history.Releford, or another team member leading the tour, shares stories of the original homesteaders, Black agricultural innovators and the land’s evolution over more than a century.

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