They're sour, they're sweet, they're ready to pick and eat. Our local oranges, lemons, and grapefruit are ripening - and we've got lots of opportunities for you to help share this bounty of healthy food within our community!

For a taste of the fun volunteers have each harvest morning, check out long-time volunteer Willie Chan's excellent photos and write up of our last Sunnyvale homes harvest on our blog.

Coming up in February are several homes harvests:
  • Sunday, Feb 9 - a weekend San Jose homes harvest

  • Tuesday, Feb 11 - San Jose homes

  • Thursday, Feb 13 - a Los Altos homes harvest including several loaded citrus fruit trees at a senior living community. The residents will be out with us to help sort and to share some refreshments, so it should be a fun, social morning!
To sign up for any homes harvest, please visit our Events calendar. More harvest dates will be announced in the next edition of this newsletter.

We're also returning to the charming, volunteer-favorite "Lemon Ladies" orchard in Redwood City on Saturday, February 8. Keep reading for all the orchard harvest details and to sign up.

Then on Saturday, February 15, we'll have a San Jose neighborhood harvest. Our friendly neighborhood "fruit mob" will walk and drive between several homes across a few blocks gathering lemons, oranges, grapefruit, and tangerines to share with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. Learn more and join the fruit mob!

Looking to join a harvest with your coworkers or your community group? We'll have group volunteer opportunities later in the spring, so read on for more information and get in touch with us soon!

Megan Elmore
Orchard Harvest Coordinator
megan@villageharvest.org

Lemon Ladies Orchard Harvest in Redwood City

Lemon Ladies OrchardHelp us share the fruit of a beautiful hillside citrus orchard in Redwood City with a legacy of generosity and inspiration. In 2004 Karen Morss planted her "Lemon Ladies" orchard with 44 dwarf Meyer lemon trees, naming each tree after a woman in history who inspired her. After Karen's passing, her husband Dave reached out to Village Harvest, and we're glad to help him share Karen's legacy orchard again in 2025.
 
Date Time Location Volunteers Needed
Sat
Feb 8		 9:00 am - 12:30 pm New! Redwood City Lemon Orchard 25 spaces available
Maximum 3 per party
Minimum age 12 with their parent, 16 otherwise
  • Harvest events will be kept open for sign up requests for at least 24 hours. You may sign up for multiple open events.
  • Sign ups are not first-come-first-served; we want as many people as possible to have a turn to volunteer. We generally give priority to and select people who haven't been able to get into a harvest recently or have been waiting the longest to get into their first harvest. (Volunteer FAQ).
  • Please keep your sign up requests within the maximum party size and minimum age limits for the event.
Our heritage orchard harvests are supported this year by the Farrington Historical Foundation. Village Harvest is grateful for their generosity and community involvement.
 

Upcoming Neighborhood Harvests

A friendly neighborhood fruit mob!Our first neighborhood harvest of the season will take place in San Jose on Saturday, February 15. We'll have 2 teams of volunteers traversing homes across a few blocks to pick lemons, oranges, and grapefruit for donation to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. Our harvest in this neighborhood last year brought in over 1,800 pounds of fruit in just three hours!

Later in February and March, we are planning more neighborhood harvests in the San Jose and Mountain View area. Watch this space for new event announcements.
 
Date Time Location Volunteers Needed
Sat Feb 15 9:00 am - 12:30 pm New! San Jose Neighborhood Harvest 18 spaces available
Maximum 3 per party
Minimum age 12 with their parent, 16 otherwise

Would you like to help us organize a harvest in your neighborhood? It's a great service project for youth and a fun way to help and get to know your neighbors. Village Harvest serves the mid-peninsula and South Bay, from Palo Alto to San Jose, and we would be happy to make more neighborhood harvests in this region possible. Contact Megan for more information.
 

Corporate and Group Volunteer Opportunities in Spring

Group volunteeringCalling all Corporate and Community Groups! Your best opportunity for a group volunteer event is just around the corner! We're getting the word out earlier this year in the hopes that you'll be able to join us.
 
Throughout the spring, we will have volunteer events harvesting delicious fruit from a large 14 acre orange orchard in North San Jose.
 
Harvests are on weekday evenings and weekend mornings, and fruit is donated to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.
 
If you have a group of up to 10 people or more, please email us now with information on your company or community group, the number of people in your group, ages if under 18, preferred days, and any date constraints from March through May. If your company has a volunteer hours donation policy or other sponsorship options, please let us know.
 
Availability will depend on how many groups and volunteers want to participate. Depending on the amount of fruit, we may have availability for a sponsored corporate event on a weekday as well.
 

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
February    
Sat 8 9 am New! Redwood City lemon orchard harvest
Sun 9 9 am New! San Jose homes harvest
Tue 11 9 am New! San Jose homes harvest
Thu 13 9 am New! Los Altos senior living community/ homes harvest
Sat 15 9 am New! San Jose neighborhood harvest