SAN DIEGO — “I have a gift for you,” Jason Mraz said, arms outstretched.
Cupped in his palms was an avocado, bumpy and green. It came from a tree on his farm — “100% organic, Mraz Fresh,” the sticker read. Last year he sold 34,000 pounds of the fruit to Chipotle stores near his Oceanside home. He grows other things on his land too — peppers and corn and leafy greens. If he could, he said, he’d spend most of his days there, hands in the earth.
Mraz wants to garden more, surf more, have a kid, put some of the money he’s saved from selling 4.5 million albums nationwide toward a good cause. So he’s started a campaign with his manager: ” Retired At40.” He has one more album left on his contract with Atlantic Records, and then he plans to check out for a while.
“I’m just ready for a break. It feels like a corporate job sometimes,” the 37-year-old said, sitting in the wings of the Spreckels Theatre, where he was rehearsing last week for the start of his 31-date tour.
It’s a surprising admission from the singer-songwriter, whose fifth studio album “Yes!” opened at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart last month. With two Grammys under his belt, Mraz appeared to have settled into a professional groove. And his songs have remarkable longevity. In 2009, his “I’m Yours” broke records when it stayed on the charts for 76 weeks.