CITRUS FRUIT SO RIPE FOR THE PICKING.

Byline: Grace Lee Staff Writer

On a secluded ranch shaded by orange groves, Meredith Reu reached for the highest fruit Sunday morning and showed her children a glimpse of the past.

For years, Reu, 49, of Winnetka has been turning out with her three children to the Orcutt Ranch Fruit Pick. The day's farmers rustle the trees with long sticks topped with baskets, scooping ripe oranges and grapefruit that go for $2 per grocery bag and $5 per crate.

`'It's for the excitement of picking the fruit, so my kids can experience the history of the San Fernando Valley,'' she said. ``I grew up in a rural area, and now that we live in a city, I feel like I'm sharing part of my own childhood.''

The 24-acre ranch built in 1921 offers ``the kind of freedom of feeling we had as kids, to roam an area of nature and not be worried and not be stressed,'' she said.

The two-day event has offered ripe pickings for at least 16 years, said Ken Paterka, a gardener on the Spanish-style estate. which is now a Los Angeles City park.

Saturday's fruit brought in about 300 pickers and $1,000, he said.

``People like the idea of picking fruit with their own hands, right off a tree. It's much better flavor than ones at the market and you can say you did it yourself,'' he said.

For Paula Graft, 48, of West Hills, the event is an annual family outing her children have known since they were toddlers. The day before, even the children's grandfather helped fill the bags, she said.

``The fruit is wonderful. You don't even have to put sugar on (the grapefruit),'' she said. ``We're never disappointed.''

Graft and her three children had filled six bags of grapefruit before they were ready to head out.

In addition to the fruit, said Graft's son Wesley, 14, ``It's cool to see wildlife and nature.''

Harvey Glassheim, 74, of West Hills was the only one among his friends to wade into the summer heat.

After an hour under the orange trees, he wiped his damp forehead with a handkerchief and took a swig of water.

``Everyone else is too chicken,'' he said.

Calling the event ``my yearly exercise,'' he said he'll give most of the fruit away to friends.

According to Melanie Mizuchima, 5, who came out from Los Angeles with her mother, all fruit tastes better hand-picked, especially ``the highest oranges. When I pick the highest one, I think they taste great.''

Grace Lee, [phone]

grace.lee(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(1 -- 2) A family, above, ambles through the groves picking fresh citrus fruit at the Orcutt Ranch in West Hills on Sunday. Meredith Reu, left, and son Bryce Edelberg, 6, use a hand basket to pluck some fresh fruit.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer