Nearly 800 pounds of fruit gathered from historic Sonoma Valley orchards for those in need

Volunteers up early Saturday among the plum trees of Jack London State Historic Park’s orchards in Glen Ellen picked a record 798 pounds of the fruit for locals struggling with food insecurity, according to a news release from the park.

The park teamed with Healdsburg-based nonprofit gleaning organization Farm to Pantry to gather and donate the plums to local food pantries, shelters, churches and other distribution sites.

The 798 pounds was the most ever picked in a day at the park, according to Eric Metz, director of operations for Jack London Partners, the nonprofit that manages the park.

More than 15 volunteers from the Rotary Clubs of Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Sunrise, Sonoma Springs, Glen Ellen/Kenwood, and Valley of the Moon, and the Sonoma Valley High School Interact Club joined Farm to Pantry in the effort to pick the plums, filling 25 wine boxes with the fruit.

“Everyone was having a great time, the volunteers were upbeat and ready to help,” said Metz. The volunteers also sampled the fruits of their labor throughout the day.

This is the second summer that the park has connected with Farm to Pantry to harvest the plums.

“It’s great to know that we can harvest with Farm to Pantry and they take care of all the distribution,“ said Metz. ”They can get the food to people who need it the most.“

In 2021, 500 volunteer gleaners helped the organization rescue over 350,000 pounds, or 1.4 million servings, of Sonoma County-grown fruits and vegetables and share that food with 100 community partners, according to Duskie Estes, executive director of Farm to Pantry.

“We are very grateful that we get to share the bounty of the Jack London historic orchard with those who need it most,” said Estes in the release.

Located 3 miles from the entrance to the park, the orchards sit on 600 acres of land acquired by the park from the Sonoma Developmental Center State Hospital in 2002 and consists of apple, pear, apricot, peach, cherry, and plum trees that were planted between 1908-1912 and abandoned in the 1980s.

In 2012, nonprofit organization Jack London Park Partners took over management of Jack London State Historic Park and began working in the orchard to stabilize the 100- year-old trees, eventually developing a plan in 2017 with California State Parks for an expanded restoration project that included replanting trees with cuttings taken from the historic trees, according to Metz.

The orchards are open to the public ($10 parking fees apply), and visitors can sample the fruit, as long as they leave most of it for the nonprofit.

“It’s pretty awesome to see people getting to experience the orchard and get a taste of what it would have looked like the early 1900s when Jack London would have been living on the mountain,” said Metz.

For more information, go to farmtopantry.org