NEW Berry News!

This year Wilt Farms is proud to present three new additions to our berry farm. Strawberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries.

Strawberries
We have 4 different varieties of strawberries, Tillamook, Valley Reds, Shuksans, and Hood. Bob had decided on these 4 because of their flavor. Valley Red are named for its outstanding performance in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Shuksans strawberries are best known for how well they taste.  This type of strawberry has a glossier skin then other varieties.
Hood strawberries are one of the most favorite strawberries. They have such an excellent mouth watering flavor.

Our strawberry plants are starting to get flowers on the outsides of the pants. There are shoots coming up in the middle of the plants that will be flowering very soon. In the middle of the flower is the strawberry itself, right now they are very tiny and green. By June 10^th to the 15^th weather permitting, those little green strawberries will be big and red and ready to harvest.

When the strawberries start to dwindle down our raspberries will be ready to start harvesting.

Raspberries
We will most likely be  hand picking 5% to 10% of our raspberries for fresh market. The other 90% to 95% will be machine picked for our value added products.  We have 3 varieties of raspberries, Tulameen, Meeker, and Saanich.  Tulameen is a standard variety through the world, and it very popular. Meeker raspberries are one of the older varieties.  Saanich is a littler newer raspberry with a great flavor.

Blackberries
Chester is the name of the variety of blackberries that we grow . This variety is thorn less. Bob chose this variety pacifically because of the flavor and the tonnage it has. This is a late market variety. We have 12 acres of Chester Blackberries.

Blueberries
Our blueberries are blooming! Within a few weeks we will be in full bloom. Then the flowers will drop, leaving behind a little green button. That green button is the blueberry. With time that little green button will grow and turn into our famous well known Nutrient Dense Blueberry! We have brought in local bees to start pollinating. We put two bee hives per acre. 

Blueberry Cow

Blueberry Cow

Stir together 2 cups blueberries and ¼ cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves and berries release their juices, 10-20 minutes. Strain syrup (do not press down on berries); discard solids. Refrigerate until cool.

To prepare one cow, pour 2 tablespoons syrup into chilled glass. Add 2 scoops vanilla ice cream. Drizzle with additional tablespoon syrup, top with ½ cup seltzer, and stir

Go Organic!

If you want to maximize your antioxidant benefits from blueberries, go organic. A recent study has directly compared the total antioxidant capacity of organically grown versus non-organically grown high bush blueberries  and found some very impressive results for the organically grown berries. Organically grown blueberries turned out to have significantly higher concentrations of total phenol antioxidants and total anthocyanin antioxidants than conventionally grown blueberries, as well as significantly higher total antioxidant capacity. Numerous specific antioxidant anthocyanins were measured in the study, including delphinidins, malvidins, and petunidins. The antioxidant flavonoid quercetin was also measured.

To Read More Click On The Following Link
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=8

Super Nutrition Blueberry Spinach smoothies

Need a boost of nutrition? Fighting Anemia?

I"m a recovering Celiac, and find I'm always on the short end of nutrition...so when I need a boost, I turn to blueberry smoothies!

I'm loving a daily blueberry-spinach smoothie. It's giving me Iron, and Minerals from the Sunset Valley Blueberries, as well as the spinach, and its delicious.

1/2 Banana
1/2 to 3/4 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup frozen Sunset Valley Nutrient dense Blueberries
and about 1 cup of fresh spinach (packed tight)

Put it all in blender...and spin it up. If it's too thick, add a touch of water.

Substitute regular milk or soy milk if you like.

Blueberries Helping Your Eyes

                                           Eye Care & Macular Degeneration
Blueberries are one of the best alternatives for glasses, contact-lenses, eye-drops, medicines and eye surgeries. They can prevent or delay all age related ocular problems like macular degeneration, cataract and hypermetropia, dryness and infections, particularly those pertaining to retina, due to their anti-oxidant properties. Macular degeneration is a serious problem where the retina of the eye degenerate gradually, ultimately leading to complete or partial blindness. No! I am certainly not telling you to put them in your eyes. Instead, you can just do well eating them. Blue Berries contain a special group of anti oxidants called Carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin etc.), Flavonoids (like rutin, resveritrol, quercetin etc.), in addition to others such as vitamin C,vitamin E and vitamin A, selenium,and zinc, which are very beneficial and essential for the ocular health.

Read More About What Blueberries Can Do For You
http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/fruit/health-benefits-of-blueberries.html

Mixed Berry cream Tart

Ingredients:
2 cups sliced fresh SVO strawberries
1/2 cup boiling water
1 box ($-serving size) sugar-free strawberry flavored gelatin
3 pouches (1.5 oz each) Nature Valley roasted almond crunchy granola bars
1 package*oz) fat-free cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh SVO blueberries
1 cup fresh SVO raspberries
fat-free whipped topping, if desired

1. Small bowl, crushed 1 cup of strawberries with pastry blender or fork. Reserve remaining 1 cup strawberries.
2. In medium bowl, pour boiling water over gelatin; stir about 2 minutes or until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir crushed strawberries into gelatin. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, leaving granola bars and pouch, crushed granola bars with rolling pin. Sprinkle crushed granola in bottom of 9 inch ungreased glass pie plate, pushing crumbs to the side of the plate to make crust.
4. In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and almond extract with electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Drop by spoonfuls over crushed granola; gently spread to cover bottom of crust.
5. Gently fold blueberries, raspberries and remaining 1 cup strawberries into gelatin mixture. Spoon over cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate about three hours or until firm. Serve topped with whipped topping. Makes eight servings.

Preventing High Blood Pressure!

 This is an interesting article that i came upon and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy

Researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Harvard University have discovered that eating blueberries helps to prevent the development of high blood pressure. According to their report, which will be published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, eating at least one serving of blueberries a week helps reduce the chances of developing high blood pressure by ten percent.

Blueberries are rich in anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidant pigments in the flavanoid family known to reduce the overall risk of cardiovascular disease. But thanks to the new research, it is now known that high blood pressure in particular is targeted by these important nutrients.

The team evaluated 134,000 women and 47,000 men as part of their study, none of which had high blood pressure at the start of it. Over the course of 14 years, participants filled out questionnaires every two years about their dietary habits, and researchers analyzed this data to see how flavanoids affected overall health.

Throughout the duration of the study, 35,000 participants developed high blood pressure. But researchers noted that those who consumed the most anthocyanins throughout the course of the study were eight percent less likely to develop high blood pressure compared those who consumed the least amount. And those who ate at least one serving of blueberries per week were ten percent less likely to develop high blood pressure than those who consumed no blueberries at all.

Read More Of This Article, Click Here

Blueberry rhubarb crisp

Ingredients:
2 cups Honey Nut Clusters cereal
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup Golden Medal whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
1 cup fresh SVO blueberries
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Heat  oven to 375°F. Spray bottom and sides of 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place cereal in resealable food storage plastic bag; seal bag and sightly crush with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Set aside.
2. In large bowl, mix brown sugar, flour, lemon peel, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir in rhubarb and blueberries. Spoon into baking dish. Sprinkle with crushed cereal and pecans.
3. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until rhubarb is tender when pierced with a fork. Let stand 30 minutes before serving. Makes six servings.