After a reduced schedule the last two months, Village Harvest is back in action for apples in September!
Fresh fruit and community are a magical combination, and even better in beautiful and historic locations. Here are the new volunteer opportunities this month; sign up soon since they may fill within 24 hours:
- This Sunday Sept. 14 we're harvesting an abundant small apple orchard in the Los Gatos Hills that the current owner calls her "acre of heaven."
- On Saturday Sept. 20 we have another volunteer harvest above Los Gatos with two smaller orchards; the Craftsman-style home at one of the apple and pear orchsrds dates to 1915.
- On September 23 the Tuesday home harvest team will pick apples from backyards in Saratoga and West Valley.
- Wrapping up the month, on Saturday Sept. 27 volunteers will pick apples at an historic orchard outside of Cupertino with 120 year old trees in a secluded valley that's now protected by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.
Join us for the fun and the satisfaction of helping others! Spaces are limited, so please submit sign up requests within the next 24 hours and we'll try to include as many volunteers as possible into one event.
For the home harvest please visit the Events calendar to sign up; for the orchard harvests see the event details and sign up links below in this newsletter.
In less good news, invasive Mediterranean fruit flies were found locally and there is a new quarantine restricting harvesting in parts of San Jose, Santa Clara, Campbell, and adjacent areas. Unfortunately this quarantine will prevent all harvests in Willow Glen and other central neighborhoods for perhaps 9 months. Ouch! Learn more in our website article about the quarantine, especially if you live in the central Santa Clara County area and have fruit trees of your own.
Thanks for helping the community through Village Harvest. Let's go pick apples!
Craig Diserens
Executive Director
craig@villageharvest.org
September Apple Orchard Harvests
 This month we return to the hills - above Los Gatos and Cupertino - where apple and pear orchards planted in the early 1900s have been preserved by generations.
Sign up for these harvests through the links in the table or on the Events calendar.
| Date |
Time |
Location |
Volunteers Needed |
| Sun Sept 14 |
9:00 am - 12:30 pm |
New! Los Gatos Hills Apple Orchard |
15 spaces available
Maximum 2 per party
Minimum age 12 with their parent, 16 otherwise
|
| Sat Sept 20 |
9:00 am - 12:30 pm |
New! Los Gatos Hills Apple Orchards |
10 spaces available
Maximum 2 per party
Minimum age 12 with their parent, 16 otherwise
Requires a short drive between two orchards
|
Sat
Sept 27 |
9:00 am - 12:30 pm |
New! Cupertino Apple Orchard Harvest |
18 spaces available
Maximum 3 per party, prefer 2 or 1
Minimum age 12 with their parent, 16 otherwise |
- Harvest events will be kept open for sign up requests for a minimum of 24 hours. You may submit multiple date requests and we'll select as many volunteers as possible into one of their event choices.
- Sign ups are not first-come-first-served, and we generally give priority to and select people who haven't been able to get into a harvest most recently or have waited the longest to get into their first harvest. (Volunteer FAQ).
- We're harvesting the fruit to help people in need in the community, but there will be fruit seconds for volunteers to take home and enjoy.
Upcoming Harvest Schedule
To volunteer for any harvest, please visit the Events calendar online to see all details and the current availability for each harvest, then click the link within each calendar entry to sign up. Most harvests are 3 1/2 hours long.
The home harvests below have a minimum age of 12 when accompanied by their parent, 16 without, and a maximum of 2 people in a party. Home harvests will require driving between homes during the morning.
| Date |
Start Time |
Location |
| September |
|
|
| Sun 14 |
9 am |
New! Los Gatos Hills Apple Orchard |
| Sat 20 |
9 am |
New! Los Gatos Hills Apple Orchards |
| Tue 23 |
9 am |
New! San Jose area Home Harvest (5 spaces available) |
| Sat 27 |
9 am |
New! Cupertino Apple Orchard |
|
