On July 17th, 2021, Greater Temecula valley AYLUS (GTVA) team Ally Negulescu(4 hrs), Adora Xiao(4.5 hrs), and Shania Jin(3.5 hrs), volunteered at their local farm to help harvest and package produce along with some special barbeque afterward!
GTVA members had set off to the farm early in the morning, but was confronted by heavy traffic due to a major car accident. Our hearts go out to those who were injured/lost in this tragedy. Members slowly started making their way over to the farm and jumped straight to work.
Some members arrived earlier than others, going immediately to harvest the zucchini. This included crookneck, summer, goldmine, and a “zebra” variety. Twins and larger zucchini lay hidden under the leaves, waiting to be picked up. However, with a long time investment of a month, the members now had experience and devised strategies. By placing the buckets in strategic places and splitting up the field, members easily cleared the field with some help within an hour and a half.
The watermelon had a few key signs to dictate whether it was or wasn’t ripe. First was that a yellow spot was often present when ripe. Second, the tendril nearest to the watermelon had to be browned in some capacity. Lastly, when tapped, the watermelon would create a higher sound. We got to taste the watermelon right after it was picked and also chuck it across the entire field! Members carefully picked and carried the ripe watermelon, delivering them to be transported. Then, we migrated over to a table of produce with volunteers packaging them to raise money for charity. GTVA assembled together and packaged 25 boxes, 40 large bags, and 50 small bags! That’s a lot of produce!
Each box and type of bag held different amounts of produce. The boxes each held one cantaloupe, two gold mines, two summer zucchini, four green zucchini, three cucumbers, one pepper, six carrots, and two beets. The larger bags all held all the former without the cantaloupe and beets, and the smaller bags held even less. The larger bags and boxes were made to order, while the smaller bags were made to be sold for five dollars each. Members learned how to pack efficiently, close and move boxes, and store bags.
Finally, we ended the morning of hard work with a tasty barbeque, some drinks, and lots of smiles! The President even took a nap on the way home…
Members can’t wait to go back to the farm once again for more sunshine, produce, and hamburgers!
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.