Anyone who’s walked down the old-timey main drag in Julian knows the Cuyamaca Mountain town still feels a lot like it must have in the late 1800s. The area struck gold—literally—in 1869, and became an official town in 1870. But it wasn’t until a few years later that the quaint city 60 miles northeast of San Diego started down the path that defines it today—an apple destination.
James Madison (just a guy heading west during the Gold Rush, not the former president) planted the area’s first apple trees, which have since earned a national reputation for quality and an ability to flourish in an only-occasionally hospitable climate. Over the next 155 years, Julian has remained a relatively quiet hamlet with fewer than 2,000 current full-time residents. For the most part, it’s mostly older folks and farmers. But the future of the placid town is in flux.
“There are a lot of businesses in the area that are selling right now and changing hands, in Wynola and up in Julian as well,” explains Tiffany Lusteg, co-owner of Patchwork Market. She’s part of that change—Lusteg and her business partner and co-owner Alexa Zigman opened Patchwork in late 2024, in an old farmstand that’s been in Wynola (just outside Julian proper) since the 1930s.
Zigman and Lusteg both live nearby, and used to each own vintage stores in the middle of town (Zigman’s was Venus Mountain Vintage, Lusteg’s was Frills). Zigman worked at the farmstand previously under Mike Bruton, when it was called Wynola Flats Produce. When he decided to sell it after struggling through the pandemic, the kindred spirits saw an opportunity.
“We had become friends from working right next door, and we’d always chatted about what we wished we had in Julian,” explains Zigman. There are plenty of ranches, farms, and artisans who live in the surrounding area who either didn’t have a singular outlet to sell their wares, or would just head into more urban areas to sell them.” By re-opening the farmstand and keeping local items in the local community, they could combine their efforts under one roof and continue the legacy of a more than century-old business.
It was an easy choice.
The vast majority of items at Patchwork Market are organic and locally grown or made. It feels like a general store meets farmers market, with vintage tchotchkes nestled next to fresh-picked flowers from a farm down the road, eggs from chickens who’ve never seen the inside of a cage in the entirety of their happy lives, local produce (whatever’s fresh and in season), and of course, some apples. Lusteg says they expect plenty of tourist traffic, especially during the height of autumn, but their goal is to provide both essentials for the community as well as fun little extras.
“It’s a known thing that there’s a lot of businesses that are just serving tourism up here, and then it leaves us locals without accessibility to things that we really need,” she explains. “So our goal has always been to serve our local community as much as we possibly can, first, and then all of the tourism that comes up is a cherry on top.”
Neither is a Julian native, although both were raised in San Diego and each are now raising their families in the area. Historically, young families haven’t been the main demographic in the rural mountains. But both partners describe a sense of kinship with the area, a determination to connect with nature, and to raise their children in a place less plugged in to the overwhelming noise of urban life.
“It feels like we’re kind of a part of this season of change in Julian,” says Lusteg. “Keeping one foot in the past, while also propelling us forward is something we hope that the rest of the businesses that are going to be changing hands this year, that they have a similar disposition.”
Some of the changes they hope to implement are adding coffee and pastry options, offering some arts and craft workshops, hosting more community events, throwing an annual Solstice party, and even introducing pie picnics.
Pie picnic?
“It’s an insane event,” she explains. Everyone brings a homemade pie, and you get one ticket per slice of pie you contribute. One ticket gets you a slice from anyone else’s pie, so if your pie has 12 slices, you can walk out with 12 new slices to try.
I’m having heavenly heart palpitations at the thought of it.
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“We just love the idea of celebrating pie,” says Lusteg.
Patchwork Market is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Monday, at 3962 CA-78, Julian, CA 92036.
