Reported by Julie Lu
On July 2nd, 2022, Greater Temecula Valley AYLUS (GTVA) team Ally Negulescu (3 hrs), Adora Xiao (3 hrs), Julie Lu (3 hrs), and Jessica Lu (3 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.
The members started off with collecting the already dried onions from every row before going back and pulling some more to dry. When deemed big enough, onions would be pulled and placed away from the hole they were planted in so that they can be dried and packed in a week or so. Leaving it near the hole would cause the onion to come in contact with the moist soil and rot. After that, the top and roots of the harvested onions had to be cut and brought back to the packaging station to be packed up.
Then, GTVA members harvested some cucumbers before going off to another field and learned how to plant pumpkin seeds. Two members would make holes in the row on either side with a pole and then make another hole some distance away using the pole to measure. Two other members would plant the seed with the pointy side down so as to help it grow more easily. The members finally finished their work just in time before they left.
