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USA250 Journal Project
Personal Chronicle: July 4, 2025 – July 5, 2026
A gift for reflection. A record of now. A story for what’s next.
✍️ “Who am I?”
I’m Don Julio Salinas. Been walking these groves since before your mama could spell orange.
I’ve seen blight come and go. Seen hurricanes tear down barns and marriage vows. Seen neighbors run out of land and out of luck. But I’m still here. Still planting. Still praying.
They call me old-fashioned. I call it discipline.
Who am I? I’m the one who didn’t leave. Didn’t quit. Didn’t switch to blueberries just because citrus got hard.
And I sure as hell didn’t ask the government to fix what God and grit used to handle.
✍️ “How did I get here?”
My father farmed. His father too. I didn’t go to college—I went to war, then I came back and picked up a shovel.
Built this grove row by row. Built this house with calluses. Paid off the land one crate at a time.
Used to take Miguel fishing on Sundays after church. Watched him become a man. Thought he had it in him to carry the line forward.
But now? He listens to his wife too much, lets the boy dream too loud. Thinks farming is something you can do with apps and compost tea.
Me? I still spray. Still burn. Still know what works.
How did I get here?
By trusting muscle over marketing. By praying to the same God since I was twelve. By refusing to bend to a world that forgot what got us here in the first place.
What has life taught me?
That roots matter. That change is not always progress.
And that some things shouldn’t be reinvented—they should be respected.
Friends & Associates
Miguel Oritz – Friend/ Son figure.
Carolina Oritz – Neighbor.
Anaya Powell – Local Co-Op Organizer and Agricultural Activist.
