Black Raspberry Pruning 2016

This machines attachments we designed and build over this past winter. We made them so we easily prune our Black Raspberry planting.

For more of our adventure in pruning black raspberries check out our album on Facebook!

Sunset Valley Organic October Newsletter

Happy October! 

We hope everyone’s fall has started off with a bang! For those who aren’t local, Oregon is starting to change color, and our blueberry plants are just starting to change from green to red and orange.  Be sure to follow us on Facebook for Autumn Photos from around our farm.

News From Around the Farm

Our harvest might be over, but we haven’t slowed down just yet. We are busy prepping ground for another planting of Aronia berries. Once we finish planting it, we will have a grand total of 70 acers of Aronia berries, and will have the largest planting of Certified Organic Aronia berries on the West Coast, which we think is pretty exciting. Aronia berries are best known for being grown in the mid west, but we are really excited to be trying this new venture.

We are also hard at work putting our berries to bed for the winter. For the raspberries we have already finished training and tying the canes, and have moved on the blackberries. We have about six weeks to two months to finish them up. For the blueberries we have started our Fall Foilers, which we have designed to encourage fruit bud set for next years crop. We are also spreading a sawdust and mulch mix at the base of the plants. 

Last month we also talked about getting our freeze drier up and running for making powders. A quick update about it is that we have made a couple of trial batches, however they aren’t perfect yet. And we want to give you all the most perfect powder. So we are going to continue to work hard on perfecting our timing with the freeze drier and finish tweeting it to perfection. Keep an eye on our social medias for some up coming photos of our process for freeze-drying. We want to thank everyone for their continued interest in this project we know it’s been a long time coming. 

Frozen Availability

With the start of fall we are nearing when we are able to send frozen berries my ground. We aren’t quite there yet, as some areas of the country are still really warm. We are looking at sometime next month being able to send frozen by ground. When we are able to, we will be posting a notice on the home page of our site. 

In order to get the ground shipping price you will need to call us to place your order, just as it has been in the past. 

Fall & Winter Hours

We will be open at the farm Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm. If you are unable to make it between these hours just call us and schedule an appointment. You can reach us at (541)752-0460.

Website Changes on The Horizon

We are going to be making changes to our website, so if you see something wonky, or weird. Please have patience as we will be improving and changing it over the next few months. Our goal is that in 2016 we will have a brand new site, that is educational, and user friendly.

IFBC in Seattle

This month we are doing something new! We have an opportunity to go to the International Food Bloggers Convention in Seattle, WA. We hope to learn tons of new things to make our blog, and website better.  We will also be posting about our experience there on our blog, so be sure to keep an eye on it.

• Adventures In Seattle At IFBC Part 1
• Adventures In Seattle At IFBC Part 2

Specials For This Month

This month we have a few different Coupons to offer to you guys, and since it's Halloween, we are having Three specials on our candy

1. We have an ad in the Pet Press magazine. If you see it and tell us about it you can get $5 off $25+ This offer will last as long as the issue is out. So September until November.
2. Trick Or Treat Chocolate Blueberry Clusters Special. We offered this last year and it was a big hit! So we brought it back, this special contains 10 mini chocolate blueberry packages for $12.95. See it on our site.  (Use code CLUSTER at check out when buying 2 to get the 3rd free!)

Simply Homemade Greek Yogurt Banana + Blueberry MuffinsWhile I was at the grocery store I found Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Muffin + Bread Mix, specially for Greek yogurt. So I thought I would give it a go. And they turned out so good I just had to share it!If you pick up this box, it has directions on it for what to do. But instead of the corn oil like they suggest, I used olive oil, and I also added one cup frozen blueberries to the mix at the very end then just stirred it a couple times to get the blueberries all mixed in.With the addition of the blueberries, I ended up baking the muffins longer in the oven, on the box they recommend 15 to 20 minutes, and I baked mine for 30.Ingredients:Box Mix1 Single-serve container (5.3 oz) or 2/3 cup plain or vanilla Greek Yogurt2 eggs½ Cup oil (corn, coconut, olive, whatever you prefer)¼ Cup water1 Cup Frozen SVO BlueberriesDirections:1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees, line 12 standard-size muffin cups with paper liners or spray with cooking spray, set aside.2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a spoon, stir until mixture forms a batter, about 50 to 60 strokes (or, mix 30 seconds at medium speed with an electric mixer, scrape down sides, than mix for an additional 30 seconds.3.Spoon batter evenly between prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

Adventures in Seattle at IFBC Part 2

On Friday evening we went out in search of dinner, and we found our way to M.O.D Pizza. It's this awesome pizza place, near the convention center in Seattle, WA. I decided to get what they were calling their Seasonal Pizza Salad. It's crust with cheese, in theirs it was asiago, and the salad part was romaine, black olives, diced tomatoes, tossed in ranch dressing. It was so delicious that I just had to create my own version when I got home. 

Caesar Salad Pizza
Ingredients:
Krusteaz Flatbread Mix (Italian Herb)
1/2 Cup Aged Cheddar Cheese
1/8 Cup Chipotle Cheddar Cheese 
Hearts of Romain
8 oz of grilled Chicken, chopped
Black Olives, chopped
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
Favorite Caesar Dressing







Directions: 
1. I used Krusteaz Flatbread Mix (Italian herb), and followed the directions on the box. This was given to us at IFBC, and oh my goodness it's good. It's also super simple to make, took me maybe five minutes (+10 mins for the dough to rise). 
2.Before putting the flatbread in the oven I added cheese to the crust, we like a lot of cheese, but using however much to your hearts content is best. 
3. While the crust is baking, mix up all the salad ingredients, and toss with Caesar dressing. 
5. Grill chicken till cooked, I used a foreman grill, and then chopped the chicken into bit sized pieces. 
4. When the crust comes out, cut with a pizza cutter, then add the salad and chicken on top, and enjoy! 

Adventures In Seattle at IFBC Part 1

Last week we went up to Seattle and had a really wonderful time attending the International Food Bloggers Convention. They said there were around 310 participants and representing at least 27 different states as well as 7 different countries. Thats pretty impressive! 

Before the conference kicked off they offered pre conference excursions and we choose to go to the headquarters of Chef'n. If you don't know a whole lot about Chef'n, no worries, we didn't either. But we found out they are a really cool company and group of people. Based in Seattle, WA the company started in 1982, by  David Holcomb who is an inventor as well as the companies CEO he can be spotted in the bottom middle picture (above). For him it all started with a garlic press, and a trip to New York to pitch his revolutionary product. Since then he has gathered a crazy amount of pattens, 300+. 

We toured their industrial studio, test kitchen space, and the delightful penthouse. Their work space reminded me a lot of Wieden + Kennedy's offices in Portland, OR. They have the same vibe, really wanting to have inspiring workspaces and departing from the stagnant corporate america vibe. After meeting Mr. Halcomb I don't really see how anywhere he worked could be boring, or plain, or corporate. His energy is reminiscent of a that from the 80's and hanging out on a beach some place. Very relaxed, and energetic. I really loved seeing their industrial workshop, they had so many tools at their disposal. Above you can see an ice cream scoop being formed from PVC. They also have a 3D printer which was also working on its own project. I was really great to see how technology is playing a key role in their designers lives and how as technology is becoming more accessible they are able to make better use of such a resource. 

In the bottom right corner of the image above is one of their designers who created what they call Poptop. It's awesome, and I totally want one. What it does is essentially is air pops popcorn in the microwave. I love making my coconut oil popcorn by stove top, but if I could do it in the microwave that would be pretty awesome. Inside there is even a little place to put butter, or oil whatever you prefer for popping your popcorn in. 

We had a great time touring Chef'n and we want to thank them for opening their office and workspace up to us. They were truly amazing hosts, and we can't wait to see what they will create next!