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Join us for our first harvests this year at the "Giant Orange Orchard" in North San Jose!
We're announcing our first relaxing "sunset" harvests on weekday evenings starting Thursdays March 27 and April 3, and BIG weekend morning harvests starting on Sundays March 30 and April 6. With the community spirit of 400 volunteers participating in harvests over a six week period, we may pick and donate as much as 100,000 pounds of oranges to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley to benefit tens of thousands of people in our community who need healthy food. This orchard is a special place, a family treasure and living reminder of agricultural history in the Santa Clara Valley. Read on to learn more and to sign up for an orchard harvest. Our home harvests are also still going strong, welcoming new and returning volunteers on Tuesdays most weeks as well as some weekends. The next home harvest dates are:
We will announce more April events in a few weeks. Happy harvesting! Megan Elmore Orchard Harvest Coordinator First Picks at the Giant Orange Orchard Imagine ... a huge orange orchard in North San Jose filled with 1,400 trees, a 14 acre island of the Valley's agricultural past seemingly lost among tech buildings and apartments. This is the last of its kind from the "Valley of Heart's Delight."The farm family has owned the land for 108 years, and first found Village Harvest in 2018. They like sharing their fruit with the community so much that they're donating their entire crop to help others. The family pitches in, too, driving farm tractors with special trailers that make it possible for volunteers to harvest as much as 20,000 pounds in a morning. Our first BIG weekend harvests are on Sundays March 30 and April 6, and this year we're expecting to have 5 or 6 harvests on Saturdays or Sundays each weekend in April and possibly into May. The big weekend harvests will have openings for 40 volunteers each, and everyone will have a fun, educational time picking oranges for local families and community members in need. Family friendly for ages 10 and up. We will also return for our "sunset" harvests on Thursdays from 5:30 - 7:30 pm, starting Thursday March 27 and Thursday April 3. Dates and sign up links for additional harvests will be included in future newsletters.
Upcoming Harvest ScheduleTo 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.
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