What an incredible year for The Hidden Orchard in 2024!

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our amazing volunteers, harvest leaders and committee members, we harvested over 4.3 tonnes of fresh, local produce! 2024 was our biggest year yet, exceeding our previous record by nearly 2 tonnes.
Throughout the year, we harvested a range of fruit varieties, including over 2 tonnes of apples, more than 1.3 tonnes of citrus, over 600kg of pears, just over 30kg of olives, 14 kg of rhubarb and 7kg of elderberries! This fruit was divided up between the tree owners, the volunteer pickers who harvested the fruit, and our charity partners around Ballarat, to share the abundance with as many people as possible. In addition to this, we also collected damaged fruit that was distributed to animals who would appreciate it, including at the Ballarat Wildlife Park.

In 2024 we held 30 harvests and hosted 2 workshops, all made possible by our incredible community. Our workshops included an olive brining workshop, delivered by our president Ellen, and a tree pruning workshop, delivered by local wine-maker and teacher Jean-Paul Trijsburg. We hope to run more workshops in 2025!
We also want to extend a huge thank you to our 2024 harvest leaders. The harvest leaders are the ones who coordinate with tree owners, schedule harvests, weigh and log all the fruit on the day, and then distribute the fruit to our partners. We’re so grateful for their continued dedication to helping out. In November, we put out a call for more harvest leaders to join the ranks in preparation for the 2025 season. We have 7 new harvest leaders joining us in 2025, allowing us to harvest more fruit! Welcome to our new harvest leaders, we’re excited to continue growing with you! If you’re interested in joining as a harvest leader, fill out the Harvest Leader Sign Up form and our volunteer coordinator will reach out to you.
In 2024, we also got started on the Orchard Project, planting the first fruit trees on site and starting an implementation working group of passionate and knowledgeable volunteers. More work will be done on the Orchard Project throughout 2025, including organising water, electricity, a shed and the netted anti-aviary for the orchard itself. We can’t wait to share more about this as the year progresses!

This was also the year we also unveiled our brand-new logo and launched our first-ever merchandise! Our new logo was designed by local Ballarat studio Stoke Design Co. We love that Stoke were able to design a logo for us that felt friendly, fresh and inviting, representing our values of 🥳 Joy, 🍎 Abundance and 👭 Community. In December, we also had our first-ever merchandise produced! Albury Enviro Bags produced our eco-friendly recycled PET bags with our new logo printed on them. These bags will be perfect for collecting fruit at harvests, and they’ll also help us to raise funds throughout 2025 to support our mission.
Here’s to all the hands that made 2024 a success. We’re excited to keep this momentum going into 2025! 💚