For coffee lovers, a good “cup of joe” is hard to beat. And even though the majority of the world’s coffee is grown outside of the United States, a farmer in Southern California has found success in inter-planting his avocados with coffee.

Jay Ruskey has been farming near Santa Barbra for over 30 years. During this time, he’s found success in niche markets by raising exotic fruit crops like avocados and cherimoyas. And in 2014, his pioneering spirit led him to coffee.

“I worked a lot with the University of California Farm Extension Services on new crops about 15 years ago” said Ruskey. “One of the advisors gave me some coffee plants where I planted under and with my avocado trees, which share very similar chemical environmental requirements and sure enough, they grew.”