The Historic Orchard is a 3.3-acre site planted in 1994 to showcase the varieties of fruit trees that once made the Santa Clara Valley famous as "The Valley of Heart's Delight". It is located in Guadalupe Gardens just south of Taylor Street and adjacent to the River Park trails. The orchard contains over 250 fruit trees, including cherries, apricots, prunes, apples, and more. It is maintained by dedicated volunteers.

The Historic Orchard is a living example of an earlier lifestyle and the economy that once drove the Santa Clara Valley. In the 1930s and '40s almost everyone who lived here was engaged in the business of fruit production: growing, picking, packing, canning, selling, or otherwise supporting the industry. Today, with very few orchards remaining, this is a place where adults and children can come to experience a piece of local history.

Fruit harvested from the Historic Orchard is donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

Click here to view a map of the Orchard!

The Historic Orchard was part of a compost case study...click here to read the report!

SPLISH, SPLASH, TAKIN A BATH………..
by Linda McCabe
Posted 6.18.10
Today in the Orchard, we had some volunteers checking the sprinklers, making sure they were turned away from the trunks of the trees and that there weren’t any broken and flooded areas. Walking by an old cherry tree we noticed the sprinkler was hitting the tree directly – but a little lizard was taking full advantage of the spray to get a quick bath! Just had to let him continue, we’ll get back to that sprinkler later.  And working in the orchard is truly about living with the critters, look at the brave squirrel who appeared as soon as the sprinkler zone stopped – he didn’t move as we approached and kept on munching his lunch. Sigh……

ORCHARD CLASSROOM
by Stephanie Lind
Posted 6.17.10
The Historic Orchard produced a bounty of learning opportunities and fun for local elementary school students on field trips during late May and early June. Almost every new day resulted in exciting discoveries for the young children who came to Guadalupe River Park and Gardens to learn about where their food comes from, local history, flowers, pollination, and other exciting scientific topics. Many of the children, as young as 4 and as old as 8, were as astounded by the hundreds of ground squirrels sitting calmly in the shade of the orchard as by the new, green fruits and nuts that they saw developing on the trees.

Guadalupe River Park Conservancy’s field trip teachers were delighted to find that the children were faster at making discoveries during the orchard tours than the teachers themselves. A group of 2nd graders found several clusters of tiny, neatly laid rows of lady beetle eggs on the underside of two different walnut trees’ leaves. Another group of students spotted a red-breasted robin picking at one of the first ripe cherries of the season. Almost all the students (and their parents) who entered the orchard excitedly peered down ground squirrel holes and enthusiastically guessed what kind of fruits and nuts the green, round spheres hanging from the trees will soon turn into. When asked why the fruit growing in the orchard is important, one 1st grader with a missing front tooth smiled broadly and answered, “Because it makes us healthy…and it tastes good.”