Following last month's haul of 4,600 pounds, Second Harvest Food Bank returned to UC ANR South Coast Research and Extension Center on August 14th, with volunteers from Girl Scout Troop 2088 of Ladera Ranch, to pick fruit for distribution to the hungry. Over the course of three hours, several pallets of citrus were gleaned from the Center's Citrus Block and taken to Second Harvest's facility in Irvine.
UCCE Master Gardeners – Orange County teach the eager youth how to properly use their tools and harvest the fruit, while discuss the importance of taking special care to remove any green material as a precautionary measure in light of the recent issues within Southern California concerning Asian Citrus Psyllid, a sap-sucking bug that is an important pest of citrus, which is one of only two confirmed vectors of the serious citrus disease, Huanglongbing or greening disease.
Special thanks to Girl Scout Troop 2088 and the UCCE Master Gardeners for all their hard work!