Posted: April 12, 2024

Imagine ... a huge navel orange orchard in North San Jose filled with 1,400 trees, a 14 acre island of the Valley's agricultural past surrounded by the tech companies and apartments of modern Silicon Valley. The farm family has owned the land for 107 years, and over the past 6 years Village Harvest has picked and donated an astounding 600,000 pounds of oranges. Yes, it's Giant!

The family first found Village Harvest in 2018 and liked sharing their fruit with the community so much that they're donating their entire crop again in 2024 to help others. This year we're holding 5 or 6 harvests on Saturdays or Sundays  starting at the end of March and continuing through early May. Weekend harvest sizes will be 40 volunteers, and we'll have a fun, educational time picking oranges for people in need. We're also planning Thursday evening "Sunset Picks" that are a great way to wind down during the week.

As of posting this news item, in 2024 we've had 3 harvests that have already picked nearly 32,000 lbs but we're just getting started (and still dodging rainy days).

Visit the Events calendar to sign up and enjoy the fun; we have announced events through Saturday April 27. You can sign up for April events now, but if you'd like to be notified of additional harvests expected in early May please fill in the Volunteer Registration in advance. Groups are also welcome; Contact Us for information.

Here are a few photos from a prior year harvest - enjoy, and sign up for this year's service and fun!

40 volunteers picked and filled 20 bins with 16,000 pounds of oranges for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.

 

The trees are pruned so that much of the fruit can be picked by hand from the ground
Some of the 40 volunteers at the first harvest
After volunteers hand pick the fruit, they carry it to volunteers on fruit bin trailer
This specialized trailer carries 5 fruit bins with up to 4,000 lbs. of oranges and fits between the trees
At the end of a good morning's work, 20 bins with 16,000 pounds of oranges are ready for the food bank to pick up