Pickings Are Good at Irvine Valley College Grove : Agriculture: The school has invited the public to pluck fruit from its two acres of trees for 25 cents a pound each weekend through May. Proceeds will go toward student activities and scholarships.

Mark Kizer pushed aside leafy branches heavy with oranges as he searched deep inside the tree for the choicest fruit. He plucked the shiny oranges and tossed them into the plastic bag he was carrying.

“We just got a juicer, and we’re going to make some serious orange juice,” he said, hauling away 64 pounds.

Kizer was reaping his harvest at Irvine Valley College, which has invited the public to pick oranges for 25 cents a pound each weekend from now until the end of May.

Where the school now stands there was once mostly orange groves. Forty acres have been preserved on the college grounds and two of those acres have been set aside to generate funds for student activities and scholarships.

“It’s extra work (picking the oranges), but the taste is superior to grocery stores and the price is very competitive,” said Kizer of Santa Ana, who was pleased to learn that he would also be supporting college students.

The student government--which maintains the two-acre grove--receives proceeds from the first weekend of each month. The rest of the weekends are sponsored by several clubs on campus, including the Asian Club, the Black Student Union, the Christian Fellowship Club and the Muslim Student Assn.

“People call from L.A. and the southernmost county to find out about our pickings,” said Donna Audibert, the college’s student affairs director.

“My husband’s on a diet and we’ve been squeezing orange juice every morning,” said Maureen Miller of Irvine, who purchased 26 pounds. “The kids also enjoy coming out here.”

During the first weekend last year, pickers gathered 12,000 pounds of oranges and the student government netted $1,800. The following weekend, another student organization earned $2,200. Last year’s earnings totaled about $6,000, Audibert said.

The college first opened the grove to the public in 1984. In addition to bolstering student funds, the trees have also been used for various community outreach programs.

“We had a gleaning project where we invited people in need to come and pick oranges,” said Kavita Mehta, a Woodbridge High School senior who came Saturday with her mother to pick oranges. “I was so impressed.”

The oranges have also been used in gift packages for needy people and single-parent families during the holiday season, said college spokesman George McCrory.

During the first few years of the public pickings, the leftover oranges were harvested by a commercial picker and the proceeds were given to the student government. But water prices soared, and the college began to claim the end-of-season profits to cover costs.

In October, the college installed a drip irrigation system to conserve water and keep costs down, and saved 38,000 gallons of water in the first month. They also hope the new watering system will increase the quality and size of the fruit.

“We used to have two crops a year, but recently our yields have been so poor,” said Audibert. “Hopefully, the blossoms on the trees (now) will be ready for another picking in fall.”