Giant Orange Orchard Harvests

Imagine ... a huge orange orchard filled with 1,500 trees, acres of the Valley's agricultural past seemingly lost among tech buildings and apartments in North San Jose. The last of its kind.

But you don't have to imagine this place. It's real, it's close, and the family has owned the land for over 100 years. And they're sharing their fruit with the community again rather than selling their crop this year.

We originally planned start these harvests in March, but then ... something happened.

We're now preparing a series of harvests with 10 volunteers each; volunteer and community safety is our highest priority and we're making sure there will be ample space to maintain physical distance at all times, including around the bins where everyone will drop off fruit. Minimum age for these harvests will start at 16, and given health department guidance at this time we do not recommend that seniors (65+) or anyone with a chronic health condition participate yet. (Sorry to disappoint.)

We'll have a test harvest with leaders in early May, as soon as we can get protective supplies in hand. Then we'll announce dates and sign ups for a bunch of harvests all at once, as many as every other day for 2 weeks.

Look for an announcement in the volunteer newsletter; we'll update this article with sign up links as well.

Here are a few photos from 2019 harvests at this location - pre Social Distance!