New (and BIG) Persimmon Harvests

Volunteer Newsletter Dec 1, 2025
New Persimmon Orchard Harvests
Upcoming Harvest Schedule

Thanks to Village Harvest volunteers for demonstrating Thanksgiving in Action!

Through your community spirit, volunteers picked more than 6,500 pounds of fresh persimmons for food banks in time to be distributed for Thanksgiving.

We received great news from persimmon orchard owners in the past week, and now have 2 orchard harvests and a home harvest to announce including a BIG event with 50 volunteer openings:

This Saturday, December 6, volunteers will harvest Fuyu persimmons from a Gilroy orchard with 65 trees. (20 spaces available). The owner texted that the squirrels did not get all the fruit and "there's a whole lot more persimmons than I thought" - and we're invited!
On December 9 the Tuesday team will visit homes in Sunnyvale with persimmons and Meyer lemons (5 spaces available).
On Sunday December 14 we have a BIG harvest for 50 volunteers to pick Fuyu persimmons from an orchard in San Martin, a community just south of Morgan Hill. We may pick as much as 6,000 pounds for local food banks, and this harvest is family friendly for children ages 10 and up coming with their parent. (Maximum 4 people per party.)

Join us for the fun, holiday spirit, and the satisfaction of helping others. Details and sign up links for the orchard harvests are below, or sign up for the home harvest through the Events calendar.

Please submit sign up requests within the next 24 hours. You may sign up for multiple events (indicate your preferences) and we'll try to include as many volunteers as possible into one event.

Volunteers are at the heart of what we do. Thank YOU for helping the community and being a part of Village Harvest.

Craig Diserens

Executive Director
craig@villageharvest.org

PS. Village Harvest is community supported; visit the website Donate page to make online contributions or learn other ways you can support us. Through our efforts together we reduce local hunger, help seniors, learn while doing, and reduce food waste for a healthier planet.

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December Persimmon Orchard Harvests

Persimmon orchards are beautiful places, with bright orange fruit and leaves that change from green to red and orange during November, then fall off and leave holiday fruit ornaments on the trees as seen in the top photo.

Sign up for these harvests through the link in the table or through the Events calendar. You may sign up for multiple events but indicate your priority if any; we will include as many people as possible into one event. Both orchard locations are a quick drive down highway 101 for volunteers from the north.

Date	Time	Location	Volunteers Needed
Sat Dec 6	9:00 am - 12:30 pm	New! Gilroy Fuyu Persimmon Orchard	20 spaces available Maximum 3 per party but 2 preferred Minimum age 12 with their parent, 16 otherwise
Sun Dec 14	9:00 am - 12:30 pm	New, Big, and Family Friendly! San Martin Fuyu Persimmon Orchard	50 spaces available Maximum 4 per party Minimum age 10 with their parent, 16 otherwise

These events will be kept open for sign up requests for a minimum of 24 hours.
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.

Home harvests 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
December
Sat 6	9 am	New! Gilroy Persimmon Orchard
Tue 9	9 am	New! Sunnyvale home harvest (5 spaces available)
Sun 16	9 am	New! BIG San Martin Persimmon Orchard