Volunteer Newsletter, January 10, 2006

Village Harvest is starting off the year by teaming with the Valley of Heart's Delight to harvest citrus in Palo Alto.  This is usually one of our most abundant harvests of the year.  We'll be feeding the hungry in several cities and reducing several thousands of pounds of waste.  Come on out and help get some momentum on those New Year resolutions to be more active, eat healthier (and help others to eat healthier), make more friends and be more involved in your community.

Saturday, January 14th
(rain date Saturday, January 21st)
8:30am - 12:30pm
Valley of Heart's Delight, Foundation for Global Community
222 High St, Palo Alto

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.
• Come prepared to carpool.  Please let us know if you have a truck or SUV to help carry fruit.
• 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!
• Children 12 and over are welcome but please see our Volunteer FAQ's for more information.

As you know, we did surpass the 100k pound goal -- but where did we end up?  We have the results but first, let's talk about the weather and crops and other things that farmers sit around worrying about. 

2005 was an ugly, or perhaps "aesthetically challenged" year.  Every disease that could ruin a crop aesthetically was at it's worst due to the long, wet spring which encouraged many diseases which affected our harvests, and will impact the trees and harvests for several years.  

The citrus was early and the 2006 crop is showing signs of disease that set in last spring.  Stone fruit (apricots, plums and prunes) were blemished, and in some cases, the crop was nearly lost because the bees don't like to come out and work when it's wet.  We had an unprecedentedly early apricot and prune harvest and had to scramble.  Thankfully, the apples and persimmons were a little on the late side.  But, the apples were the most aesthetically challenged in years so the yields were low and persimmons prematurely dropped much of the fruit that was set for reasons that we've yet to pinpoint.

Despite the challenges, Village Harvest had a record breaking year.  How?  Homeowners and volunteers alike have stepped up to the challenge of rediverting from the landfill an increasing percentage of the bounty grown right in our own neighborhoods to those in need. 

Especially notable are:

• Karen Hurst, the  leader of the Mt. View Harvests,
• Susan Osofsky who coordinated the unprecendentedly early and time critical summer fruit harvests,
• Ela Harrison who has been starting the Berkeley program with Spiral Gardens, and
• Greg Spadea, Heather Dooley, Bill Young and Diana Foss who have been the backbone of the San Jose team that moved operations to the Salvation Army in November. 

Our overcoming a challenging crop year is a testament to the abundance in our communities.  Dave Muffly, a respected local arborist, turned me on to the idea that Village Harvest is watching over our "urban orchard".  More sparsely populated, but more diverse and perhaps more sustainable in the long run. 

So now,... cue the drum roll...

In 2005, Village Harvest picked 110,615 lbs!  That's:

• Nearly 295,000 servings of fruit, enough to provide fruit servings to 3,500 families of four for a week.
• A 36% increase over the 81,441 lbs harvested in 2004.
• Over 316,000 lbs cumulative since our little experiment started in Palo Alto in 2001.
• Enough to make a significant difference in the lives of those in need in San Jose, Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, and Berkeley.
• An amazing accomplishment and contribution from each of you -- thanks (55) tons!

Our goal for the coming year as always is simple:  We want more of that nutritious fruit to be made available to the hungry.  There are over 165,000 individuals, mostly seniors and families with children in need and millions of pounds of fruit unused in local backyards.  So, let's keep up the good work!

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