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 Volunteer Newsletter Apr 2, 2025 More Giant Orange Orchard Harvests 24 Years of Village Harvest Upcoming Harvest Schedule Thanks to the help of 56 volunteers last week, our harvest season at the "Giant Orange Orchard" in North San Jose has kicked off super succesfully. Come take part in our largest annual community effort!
We hope to harvest and share as much as 100,000 pounds of fruit this season, with harvests on Thursday evenings and weekends throughout April. Read on for more event details and to sign up. On Saturday April 19, we will also have a smaller group pick at a heritage orchard in Cupertino. There is space for 10 volunteers, with a maximum of 2 per party and minimum age 12 with their parent, 16 otherwise. And the fruit and fun is not just at orchards -- oranges, lemons, grapefruits, and more delicious citrus fruits are still ripe on home trees throughout our area. Come and help share the bounty at one of these upcoming home harvests:
And oh, how time flies - yesterday was the 24-year anniversary of the start of Village Harvest! Whether you've been with us since 2001 or 2025, thank you for being a part of this community. Megan Elmore Orchard Harvest Coordinator megan@villageharvest.org More BIG Harvests at the North San Jose Orange Orchard Come out and join us at the "Giant Orange Orchard!" This agricultural oasis in North San Jose is a family treasure, owned and operated by the same family for over 108 years now. They found Village Harvest in 2018, and since then have donated their entire crop to help local families and community members in need.At each of our harvests here, volunteers walk the orchard rows and pick buckets of oranges from the abundantly-bearing trees. The orchard 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. In just two harvests last Thursday and Saturday, we have already picked over 22,000 pounds of oranges that were donated to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley. This is already an amazing feat -- and, we've only picked a few rows at the front edge of this 1400-tree orchard. We are expecting to have 4 or more BIG harvests on weekends throughout April and possibly into May. The weekend harvests will have openings for 50 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. At these harvests we glean areas that have already been picked, by using pole pickers and sometimes ladders to reach fruit that is out of arm's reach from standing height. Here are our newly scheduled harvests in need of volunteers, with more dates to be announced later this month.
24 Years of Village Harvest On April 1, 2001, a simple idea brought together 22 volunteers who picked fruit shared by 9 homeowners in Palo Alto, all donated to a grateful food pantry. This photo is from that first harvest! The rest is our history. Over 24 years thousands of volunteers and tree owners have shared their time, talents, and gardens to make that simple idea grow and continue. Together, we've helped hundreds of thousands receive healthy food from the abundance all around us, and we've learned, enjoyed the outdoors, and made lasting friendships. Thank you for your part in Village Harvest's history, and our future. 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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