Village Homes has a philosophy of communal land use. Residents hold an undivided common interest in three types of common land:

• Household Commons: These common areas are located between houses along the community's east-west pedestrian/bike paths. While each household has primary responsibility for the area immediately adjacent to its lot, clustersof neighbors (typically eight households) meet once or twice a year to discuss how the common area will be used and landscaped.
• Greenbelt Commons: Greenbelt areas are the formally landscaped parks and ornamental areas maintained by the gardeners. These lands are located along the major north-south pedestrian/bike paths that run along the east and west sides of the community.
• Agricultural Lands: We have two types of ag lands: the gardens bordering thecommunity on the west pedestrian/bikepath and the orchards and vineyards found throughout the community. The garden ag lands are for the private use of residents; the orchards and vineyards are maintained primarily by the gardeners and can be harvested by all residents.

Uses of Common Lands

The common lands are used for three purposes:

• Enjoyment: A beautiful landscape invites us to stroll through it and exercise on the open greens and pedestrian/bike paths. The many fruit and nut trees in the community also provide wildlife habitat.
• Food and Flowers: Residents can grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers on assigned plots in the ag lands or in their household commons. They can also harvest fruits and nuts from the orchards and vineyards.
• Profit: The almond orchard bordering Arlington Boulevard is harvested by residents for their own consumption; excess almonds are sold.

Horticulture Committee

The Village Homes Horticulture Committee (formerly called the Agricultural Board) sets policy for maintaining the green growing things in the village. The activities of the Committee contribute significantly to our quality of life - the beautiful edible landscaping in Village Homes helps make our community unique.

The Committee works closely with the Village Homes gardeners, whose expertise and participation in Committee decisions is highly valued. Residents who have questions about agriculture and landscaping in Village Homes can consult with the experienced gardeners.

Work Parties

The Committee occasionally organizes parties of volunteers to work on projects that are too big for our staff of paid gardeners to handle. Such projects in the past have involved building fences, replanting orchards, and installing drip watering systems in the vineyards. Work parties are advertised by postings around the village and by notices in the monthly newsletter.

Many hands truly make light work on these projects. The larger the turnout, the more emphasis is placed on "party" and the less on "work." Work parties help to reduce homeowners' dues by substituting volunteer labor for paid labor. They also encourage community building by letting us share experience with our neighbors.

Garden Plot Assignments

One responsibility of the Ag Board is to assign to residents garden plots in the ag lands along the western edge of the development. Residents who are into gardening and who don't have a big enough area around their house can sign up for a plot in the ag lands by contacting the chairperson of the Committee.

Resident gardeners are provided irrigation water for their crops and biannual tilling (performed by a volunteer and the Village Homes tractor). In return, resident gardeners are asked to contribute at least eight hours per year of service on work parties or in self-directed activities assigned by the gardening staff.

How We Harvest

When the crops in orchards and vineyards are ready to harvest, the gardeners put up signs inviting residents to pick. All fruit except almonds is free. Picking supplies, including buckets, tubs, and ladders, are available from the gardening staff.

Harvesting in common areas is on the honor system; residents are asked to be fair about the amount of fruit they pick in ag lands, since it is shared with over 200 households.

In household commons, residents follow a few simple rules when picking fruit. Some residents will put a sign out inviting others to pick from trees with an overabundance of fruit. Others will put out signs requesting that others not pick from their trees with limited or especially prized fruit. It's always appropriate to pick up fallen fruit, but residents of common areas who've taken responsibility for planting, pruning, and tending their fruit trees are entitled to harvest the fruit. The stricture against stripping trees in common areas applies doubly to trees in household commons.

Almond Harvest

Almonds are an important cash crop. We harvest almonds in early autumn with a mechanical shaker hired for the job. Everyone comes out to rake, run tarps, bag almonds and generally have a good time. When the nuts have dried and been shelled, they're available for purchase by residents. Residents who participated in the harvest have the first opportunity to buy, at a 50 percent discount. Remaining almonds are sold to other residents, and any excess is sold to commercial almond processors.

Harvest Times

This table lists the typical harvest times for the most popular crops: