Volunteer Newsletter, October 7, 2005

HARVESTING FOR THE HUNGRY - MORE APPLES

I was mistaken... there is one more apple orchard out there.  We got a last minute phone call from an apple orchard owner in Los Gatos Hills and we're scrambling to get these apples before they drop.  Every bit counts toward our 100k goal this year!  We could use a few more folks to help us get these apple this Sunday so please RSVP so we know how many to plan for lunch. 

Sunday, October 9th
8:30 - 3:00pm
Apples in Los Gatos Hills (off Summit Road)
Volunteers 14 and over are welcome
Meet 8:30am:  Mt. View CSA, 204 Stierlin Road, Mt. View to carpool or
Meet 9:45am:  at the orchard if you're coming from a direction closer to Hwy 17. 
Please RSVP to joni@villageharvest.org with the number of people attending and if you'd like directions to the orchard. 
 

Instructions for harvesting volunteers:

• Dress in layers for a cold morning and warming during the day, with sun protection, and insect repellant in mind.
• Wear comfortable covered shoes. This orchard is on a hill so hiking boots or other footwear that protects your ankles is appropriate.
• Lunch and water is provided but if you have special dietary needs, please bring your own. 
• Bring a small box or bag to share in the harvest. Tree ripened fruit from Santa Clara Valley... it doesn't get any better than this!
• See our Volunteer FAQ's for more information, especially regarding children.

 

GOOD NEIGHBOR GARDENS:

Village Harvest was one of the national award winners of the  2005 Scott Company's Good Neighbor Gardener Award.  The award salutes gardeners who donate produce to feed the hungry in their own communities through Plant a Row for the Hungry (PAR), a national campaign of the Garden Writers Association of America.  At the time of the award, Village Harvest had contributed over 202,000 lbs of fruit to San Jose Mercury News Plant-A-Row (PAR) Campaign.   

Coincidentally, San Jose Mercury News has also started their own local Good Neighbor Garden Program this year.  Holly Hayes, Garden Editor for the San Jose Mercury News is carrying on and improving on the tradition of PAR.  Interested in participating in Good Neighbor Gardens?  It's as simple as requesting a free starter kit, which contains seeds, a list of community drop-off locations and a little refrigerator magnet that will tell your friends what you're up to. Please send your name and mailing address to Good Neighbor Gardens, San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95190; or send e-mail to features@mercurynews.com.  In 2005 to date, gardeners have contributed over 150,000 lbs of healthy, nutritious produce to Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara County.  

Right now is a great time to start a winter garden and to help supplement the hungry with produce when local farmers don't have as much to offer/donate.  If you'd like suggestions on cool season vegetables, see the UCCE Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County's website for recommendations. 

 

HELP WANTED:

If you're looking for ways to help this Fall/Winter, here are a couple of ways to help Village Harvest raise funds to keep the harvesting going.

Volunteers Needed:

Sales for Fundraisers   10-15 hours between now and the end of the year. 
We received several of boxes of books and equipment that donors would like us to sell as fundraisers, but we need someone to decide how to successfully sell them.  This person would have lots of autonomy to set the best price for these items, determine the sales channels and gather the necessary resources/help to do it. 

Holiday Preserve Sales Manager:    8-10 hours per sales event
We have a lot of new varieties of preserves this year that we'd love to make available at a few (1-3) holiday sales events and keeping our sales locations stocked.  If you're good with managing details and money or love to sell things, this is an opportunity to help us raise some much needed funds for Village Harvest.  There are volunteers that will help at the events, but you'd be in charge of planning, inventory and getting things organized.  And of course, tastes are always free =)

 

Date / Day	Time	Event	Meeting Place	Notes
October 9, Sunday	8:30 am - 3:00 pm	Harvesting for the Hungry - More Apples.	Meet 8:30 am, Mt. View CSA	Please RSVP so that we can plan on lunch. Contact joni@villageharvest.org to join in.
October 9, Sunday	9:00 am - 12:00 pm	Harvesting for the Hungry, Berkeley w/ Spiral Gardens	Contact ela@spiralgardens.org to join in.	If you have friends in Berkeley or Oakland with more than enough fruit on their trees, please let them know that we can help them out now.
October 11, Tuesday	8:30 am - 3:00 pm	Community Fruit Harvesting, Willow Glen, Citrus - CANCELLED	Meet 8:30 am, SHFB Volunteer Room.	You must RSVP for this event and be registered as a SHFB volunteer
October 16, Sunday	9:00 am - 12:00 pm	Community Fruit Harvesting, Mountain View & Los Altos.  Apples and more.	Meet 9:00 am, Mt. View CSA	Contact karen@villageharvest.org to join in.
October 22, Saturday	9:00 am - 12:00 pm	Fruit Tree Pruning Master Class	contact joni@villageharvest.org for more info.	Master pruning class for experienced fruit tree pruners who want to learn more from each other and from Jean Gomes who had the best apricot orchard this year.
October 23, Sunday	9:00 am - 12:00 pm	Harvesting for the Hungry, Berkeley w/ Spiral Gardens - TENTATIVE	Contact joni@villageharvest.org to join in.	If you have friends in Berkeley or Oakland with more than enough fruit on their trees, please let them know that we can help them out now.
November 6, Sunday	9:00am - 12:00 pm	Community Fruit Harvesting, Mountain View & Los Altos.  Apples and more.	Meet 9:00 am, Mt. View CSA	Contact karen@villageharvest.org to join in.
November 12, Saturday	8:30 am - 12:30 pm	Harvesting for the Hungry, Palo Alto w/ Valley of Heart's Delight	Meet 8:30am, Foundation for Global Community, 222 High St, Palo Alto.	Persimmons!  Save the Date!
November 13, Sunday	9:00 am - 12:00 pm	Harvesting for the Hungry, Berkeley w/ Spiral Gardens	Contact ela@spiralgardens.org to join in.	Persimmons!
November 19, Saturday	8:30am - 12:30pm	Harvesting for the Hungry - Persimmons	in Santa Cruz Hills	Save the Date!
November 20, Sunday	9:00am - 12:00 pm	Community Fruit Harvesting, Mountain View & Los Altos.  Persimmons	Meet 9:00 am, Mt. View CSA	Contact karen@villageharvest.org to join in.

Remember that the best tasting, tree ripened fruit goes home with the volunteers, as it will be too ripe to go through distribution at the various agencies.  Perfect for people who like to make preserves. All dates subject to change based upon ripening and weather.

 

Cheers,
Joni Diserens
Village Harvest
joni@villageharvest.org
www.villageharvest.org
(888) FRUIT-411
(650) 740-7725