Posted: March 31, 2023

Imagine ... a huge navel orange orchard in North San Jose filled with 1,500 trees, a 14 acre island of the Valley's agricultural past surrounded by the tech companies and apartments of modern Silicon Valley. The farm family has owned the land for 106 years, and in 2022 Village Harvest picked and donated an astounding 170,000 pounds of oranges. Yes, it's Giant!

The family first found Village Harvest in 2018 and liked sharing their fruit with the community so much that they're donating their entire crop again in 2023 to help others. This year we're planning 5 or 6 harvests on Saturdays or Sundays beginning in mid April and continuing through May. Weekend harvest sizes will be 40 volunteers, and we'll have a fun, educational time picking oranges for people in need. We're also planning smaller Thursday evening "Sunset Picks."

The harvests on Saturday April 15 and Sunday April 23 have been announced but there are a few openings available, and they'll be more harvests in May. Look for an announcement in the newsletter for additional harvests and sign up soon after. If you're not already registered as a volunteer, fill in the Volunteer Registration in advance.

Here are a few photos from the March 27, 2021 harvest - enjoy, and sign up for this year's service and fun!

40 volunteers picked and filled 20 bins with 16,000 pounds of oranges for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.

 

The trees are pruned so that much of the fruit can be picked by hand from the ground
Some of the 40 volunteers at the first harvest
After volunteers hand pick the fruit, they carry it to volunteers on fruit bin trailer
This specialized trailer carries 5 fruit bins with up to 4,000 lbs. of oranges and fits between the trees
At the end of a good morning's work, 20 bins with 16,000 pounds of oranges are ready for the food bank to pick up