42,646 pounds of fresh apples donated by Beilke Family Farms were harvested on Saturday, 12/3/11. More than half of what was picked was donated to local food pantries for the hungry and the remainder harvesters took home for their families and to share with those they know who are in need.

In just four hours 42,646 pounds of beautiful apples were harvested at Beilke Family Farms on Saturday.  Late weather at the Beilke Family Farms meant that this U-Pick farm in Brooks still had apples on their trees which normally would have been picked by now.  So the Beilkes and Gruetzmans invited Salem Harvest to come out  to pick before the cold and wet weather set in.

Their beautifully maintained orchard and loaded small trees made for easy harvesting.   217 adult volunteers plus dozens of children quickly picked all they needed for their personal use as well as the half to donate to the hungry, and then enthusiastically headed back out to the orchard to pick more for the hungry.

Cary Takara harvesting apples from the Beilke's heavily laden trees.

Salem Harvest organizer, Rob Easton,  joked that instead of orchard ladders pickers needed knee pads in order to get all the low hanging fruit and he was right.

Steve Tipton from Mission of Hope picks up 3 tons of apples to distribute to the hungry through their mobile food bank.

Salem Harvest partnered with Mission of Hope, a mobile food bank run by  Silver Creek Fellowship, to help distribute these apples.  Using their large box truck, Mission of Hope picked up several tons of apples which they are distributing through their mobile food bank to needy individuals and families.  Thank you to Steve Tipton for his quick response to our request to help distribute the bounty.  Marion Polk Food Share also sent a truck to pick up apples for their partner food pantries to distribute in emergency food boxes.

Stalwart volunteers, Mike and Linda Pantalone worked at both harvests Saturday, with Linda leaded the second harvest, and then they delivered apples in their pick-up to the needy.  Melody Parr, Rebecca Greaves, Rachel Gleed, Vanessa Demoe, Rob Easton, Dick Yates, Roz Shirack, and Alicia Bay all volunteered their time and expertise to make these harvests happen.  Salem Harvest runs entirely on volunteer power, so we are very grateful to them for their work.

Families picking apples by the bucket load. More than half of the harvested fruit is donated to the hungry.

Without the generosity of three generations of farmers, this incredible harvest would not have been possible. Grandfather Philip Beilke (91) and his son Terry take care of the orchard, some of which Philip planted in 1959.   Together with third generation farmers, Erin & James Gruetzman, the Beilkes run this U-pick and nursery stock farm in Brooks.  We are so grateful to them for their generosity.  These apples will feed thousands of hungry individuals throughout the winter.

Allieviating Hunger. Building Community. Living Sustainably.

White "Lumina" pumpkins are perfect for baking

If you have recipes to share, send them to Angela at arountree@salemharvest.org.  Angela is creating a Salem Harvest favorite recipe website.  Photos of your creation are welcome but not necessary.

Alleviating Hunger. Building Community. Living Sustainably.

Nearly six tons of apples donated by the McDonald Orchard, Saturday October 22, 2011

This is both our largest single donation and largest total pounds picked for one farm harvest, besting last year’s record four tons of onions picked at Greg Bennett’s Lake Labish Farms and five tons of squash, potatoes and corn at the Oregon School for the Deaf.

Harvest Leader, Melody Parr, described a bustling harvest, “15 minutes into the harvest people already had full buckets and were bringing them back.  We had barely finished check-in when we started loading donations.”  Ms. Parr explained that “there was  a lot of fruit within arms reach which people could pick” without needing to use a ladder.  Indeed because there was so much easily accessible fruit, most people were done picking within an hour.

Casey, Harvest Assistant giving an orientation to pickers

Kudos to those who pitched into to make the harvest run so smoothly

Not only was this our largest harvest in terms of pounds, it was our most efficient harvest yet in that we were able to get more than 130 people through the lines and orientation in 14 minutes.    We credit our astute pickers and capable harvest assistants,  Vanessa, Casey and Rebecca for doing a great job with the orientation under the direction of Harvest Leader Melody and Linda, a Harvest-Leader-in-Training.

40 lb boxes of apples headed to MPFS.

Dick and Rachael distributed the Pearmine orchard ladders in almost as much time.  Thanks, Rob for transporting those ladders which Pearmine Farms graciously allowed us to use (again).   And thanks to everyone, particularly Marion-Polk Food Share employee, Jeremy Watson, who drove the MPFS donation truck out to the orchard, for working hard to help dump the donated apples  into boxes and loading those heavy boxes into the truck.

Salem Harvest runs entirely on volunteer power.  Together, many hands made light work out of nearly six-tons of apples.

The Historic McDonald Orchard

This is our second year harvesting apples at Norm McDonald’s historic orchard.  As a child Mr. McDonald helped his father plant the 750 trees which make up one of the oldest apple orchards still in production in the valley.

Norman McDonald, farmer

Mr. McDonald  tends this orchard along with another 80+ acres of land which his family homesteaded here over 100 years ago.  Even beyond this significant donation of apples, Mr. McDonald and his wife are regular donors to Marion-Polk Food Share, bringing in boxes and boxes of tomatoes which they pick from their u-pick farm throughout the summer to share with the hungry.

We’re grateful to the McDonalds for sharing more of their bounty with the hungry by inviting Salem Harvest back to their orchard this year.   We understand that this is their livelihood; that they give away so many apples from their u-pick orchard is remarkable.

Harvest Assistant, Rachel, helped Dick Yates distribute ladders

Some of our pickers have asked about helping to maintain a small portion of this historic orchard.  Salem Harvest and the Home Orchard Society are talking with Mr. McDonald about just that.  Stay tuned for more information about possible tree-care demonstrations and a work party there this winter when the trees are dormant (January and February are common pruning months– when the leaves are off one can see the structure of the trees to prune).    This would increase the productivity of a portion of the orchard, whose yields might be dedicated to donations for families in need in our community.

Next up:  Winter Squash harvests in early November

Looking ahead, we have two winter squash harvests coming up on weekends in early November.  Watch for those harvest party postings on our website, salemharvest.org.

Linda, Harvest-Leader-in-Training assisting a child as he makes his donation to help feed the hungry among us

Alleviating Hunger. Building Community. Living Sustainably.

A historic orchard of organic Rome, Jonathan and Red
Delicious apples just northeast of Salem this Saturday, October 22, at 1:00 pm. Salem Harvest will be able to loan out about 15 orchard ladders. Pickers should bring a step ladder or orchard ladder as all fruit will require ladders for picking. There is room for 200 pickers. If you are registered as a picker, sign up at the Harvest Parties page: http://www.salemharvest.org/harvestlist.php