On July 24th, 2021, AYLUS team Ally Negulescu(4 hrs) , Adora Xiao(4 hrs), and Shania Jin(4 hrs) volunteered at their local farm to help harvest and package produce. All of the produce grown from this project is donated directly to the Temecula Community Mission of Hope for distribution to other local food pantries in our region and Fallbrook.
“We should have a football player come and help volunteer too!” were the words of Sophie Hsieh, the Greater Temecula Valley AYLUS(GTVA) Advisor when today’s GTVA members had the privilege of harvesting the seasonally fresh tomatoes. GTVA members had arrived to the farm not only excited to work again, but to also excited to be able to get their hands on the tomatoes! First, they started with their traditional “warm-up” by picking the zucchinis and having the usual size contest. For some reason why, all of the larger zucchinis are all attracted to our secretary!
After violently trying to attack each other with different sized zucchinis, the members’ attention slowly started shifting over to the bright red fruits hanging out in their vines. They quickly wrapped up their size contest and started to harvest the tomatoes. Members learned that tomatoes with a bright red and reddish-greenish color means that they’re ready to harvest, and to pick them, all you need to do is to give it a good twist on the stem. Members also learned that even if tomatoes seem to be defected on the bottom, they are actually perfectly fine to eat inside! Everyone even got to practice their throwing arm, which is where the football player comes in. Any tomato that’s been infested by bugs were promptly picked and chucked across the field! (And thus, the President’s terrible aim was revealed…)
When the tomatoes were finished, members quickly helped load some watermelon onto a tractor and waved to it as it was driven up a hill. Everyone then quickly prepared boxes, bags, and rubber bands to help package the produce picked. Super fresh vegetables were separated into tubs, ready to be packed. The beets were even bigger than the size of a fist! In total, members packed a whooping total of 25 boxes, 35 large bags, and 51 smaller bags! Our group contributed to harvesting a total weight of 3274lbs at the outreach farm, that’s quite a bit of vegetables!
At the end of the morning, members had finished yet another successful session of volunteering. With empty water bottles and dusty faces, members rode off home ready for the next time!
