News for March & April From Sunset Valley Organics

Happy Spring! Is anyone else ready for Spring? We sure are! We've been busy finishing up our pruning on our blueberries. We've gotten a bit of snow and freezing rain so we are looking forward to warmer weather. WE HAVE NEW PRODUCTS! Finally! We have new berry powders up in the shop. Which is why the newsletter was delayed in going out in March. We wanted to be able to announce that you can now purchase: Red Raspberry Powder Blackberry Powder Aronia Berry Powder Black Raspberry Powder Blueberry Powder Our berry powders are a supercharged way of getting your daily fruits into your diet. You can mix our powders into baking, oatmeal, smoothies, milk, ice cream, and more! Like our dried berries there are no additives or preservatives in the powders so we're keeping the product as natural as possible.  *Note: None of our powders dissolve in water* We've also added a new size to our powders. Now you can purchase all of our powder varieties in 2 lbs. quantities for $110.00.   Our normal office hours are: Monday - Friday 10 am to 4 pm PST  Please note: Do not respond to this email, it does not reach us.

 

 

Cold Weather Shipping  Cold Weather Shipping is still going! Since spring is here, if the temperature gets above 75 degrees where you are please call us and we will discuss if it's safe to ground ship berries to you.  For those who are new to this, every year when it’s cold (nation-wide) we are able to send our frozen berries by ground rather than 2 day air, which saves a lot of money! We can only offer this while it’s cold out, usually fall through the early part of spring. You do need to call us if you would the ground shipping though. Our online store is not set up for it. You can call us at 541-752-0460 Monday through Friday 10 am to 4 pm Pacific Standard Time. **PLEASE NOTE: We are not responsible for shipping delays due to weather conditions** We are also going to have a secret Instagram sale some time this month, so be sure to be following us so you don't miss out!

 

 

No-Bake Blueberry Energy Bites

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup creamy almond butter (or cashew butter)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup Crispy Brown Rice Cereal
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons hemp seeds (or chia seeds)
• 1/3 cup dried blueberries

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the almond butter and maple syrup then stir together. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir until evenly coated. If the mixture seems to wet, sprinkle in a few more oats. If it seems to dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time until moist it’s enough. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
2. Using a scooper, scoop out roughly 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture at a time and roll into balls. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Nutrient Analysis Report of SVO Berries from 2015's Harvest

Everyone here at Sunset Valley Organic's works very hard to ensure our berries are the highest quality. Part of that is the Nutrient Density, and how we compare to the USDA standards when it comes to minerals and nutrient density. We sent out a whole bunch of samples from our 2015 crop, including blueberries, blackberries, and aronia berries. This is a form of a report card for us, and we are very excited about the results, so much so that we wanted to share with you all.

Summary;

Samples of Blueberry, Black berry and Aronia Berry powder were sent to a third party for nutrient analysis. The berries in these powders were grown by Sunset Valley Organics/Wilt Farms Inc. The purpose of the analysis is to compare the nutrient density of Sunset Valley Organic’s berries to the USDA Standards.

In all but the protein and blackberry vitamin C comparison, Sunset Valley Organics berry powders exceeded the USDA standards, and many times by several hundred percent.

The second comparison was USDA Blueberry Standard vs. SVO Blueberry, Blackberry, and Aronia Berry. The reason for this comparison is that many people think that blueberries are the standard for nutrition of berries. That being said this comparison shows how SVO’s berries compare to that standard.

Again, with only a couple of exceptions SVO berries show consistently more nutrient density than the USDA Blueberry Standard.

Biological Farming Vocabulary + Key Concepts

This month we're going to cover some basics of the vocabulary your going to see a lot as we continue our discussion of Biological Farming. There are also a few key concepts that are the foundation for Biological Farming. 

Vocabulary:

Balance-

            -Microbial: Balance between different microbes; fungi & bacteria.

            -Chemical: Balance between different minerals; to much of one will inhibit availability in others minerals. Example: Phorsphers & Zinc; to much of either one will make the other unavailable.

            -Energy: Depending on the plant; reproductive (fruit blossoms) or growth (after blooms)

Mineral Availability: Just because minerals are in the soil, that doesn’t mean they are available. Microbes are KEY, without microbes the plant cannot pick up the minerals. Microbes are the stomach of the plant.

Timing-

            -Plant Physiology: The grower needs to know so they can feed the appropriate energy (growth/reproductive).

Microbes: Are what do the solubilizing of minerals; are the driving force of the ecosystem. Digest minerals, that the plant can use.

Energy: All life lives off energy; people, plants, , microbes- interaction of different minerals.

Brix: The measure of suable solids in sap and fruit. Also proportional to the percentage of sugar. More minerals = more nutrient density.

Photosynthesis: a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy, normally from the Sun, into chemical energy that can be later released to fuel the organisms' activities (energy transformation).

Genetic Potential: The potential charastics of the plant according to its genetic code. Growers don’t realize their potential because they don’t give the crop everything it needs.

Ryzosphere: microscopic area/zone around the root tip. Thousands of microbes feed from the exudates of the plant and in turn reach out and souilblize minerals making them available to the plants.

Organic Matter-

            - Active: Carbon substances where microbes are actively digesting.

            - Non Active: Carbon substance found in soil are not being digested.

Key Concepts:

1.     Microbes are the stomach of the plant. They digest and make minerals available to the plant.

2.     Imperative to plant - resistant disease – has higher amounts of minerals in tissue.

3.     All life lives off energy, sun provides, interaction of minerals.

4.     Nutrient Dense Food; surplus of energy. Food that is lacking in nutrients can pull energy from the body. Example: A granny smith apple takes more energy for your body to digest this means that the apple did not have a lot of nutrients in it to begin with.

April 2016 News from SVO

News From Around the Farm

April is here! We are starting to see less rain and are able to start feeding our berries. Our Duke blueberries are starting to bloom, and so are the raspberries and black raspberries, but not as consistently as the blueberries. We think in a week or so, if the weather stays nice, we will have bees brought in. This is one of my favorite times of year, seeing everything waking up and blooming. Before we know it, it'll be summer and harvest will be here. 

This last month we pruned our black raspberries, we posting pictures on our Facebook. We did a short video showing how the machine works, if your interested please click here to see our video. (+ Check out our YouTube Channel! We will be added new videos through out the spring and summer.)

We are also very excited with a delivery or Aronia Berry plants for our newest planting have arrived and once things dry out a bit we will set to work planting them. Bringing our current total of 16 up to 26 acres total. 

Our final piece of news is that we are now selling our products at Natural Groshers in Corvallis, and Eugene, OR. You can find our dried blueberries and spreads, and hopefully we will have our frozen in there as well. We would like to thank everyone for their continued support as we are slowing growing our products and where they are available for purchase. 

New Products In Our Shop

We have a few of new products up in our store, be sure to check them out!

Our New Products:

Frozen Aronia Berries

Freeze Dried Blueberry Powder

Freeze Dried Blackberry Powder

Dried Aronia Berries

Coming Soon:

Dried Aronia Berry + Blueberry mix

Food For Thought

These are the articles we found over the last month and just had to share with you all. 

Biological Farming: Why farm biologically? + What is Biological Farming?

Ask A Master Gardener: Blueberries Need Special Care in the Winter

7 Incredible Blueberry Benefits: From Being a Powerful Antioxidant to Regulating Blood Sugar

We will have Black Raspberries (and products) and  aronia berries (and more products) available to purchase after the Harvest of 2016. 

Blog News:

Check out our blog for our first post in our Biological Farming series. We will be adding a new entry every month, this is a great way to see our farming practices.

Cold Weather Shipping is Back!

It's spring time again and that means the weather is starting to warm up. If you've been putting off taking advantage of our cold weather shipping please place your order soon with us. Once temperatures are hot again we will not be able to offer the ground shipping option.

For those of you who are new to our site, every winter we are able to offer better shipping prices on our frozen berries. We are able to do this by shipping by ground rather than by 2-day air, which is standard in our store online. To take advantage of our ground shipping this winter, give us a call at 541-752-0460 (10 am to 4 pm, PDT). 

Winter + Holiday Office Hours

Our Winter hours are Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm PDT. 

Aronia Berry Granola Bars

Great snacks for on the go! A nutrient dense + delicious choice!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1 Cup Dried Aronia berries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
• 2/3 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
• 1 cup dried, pitted dates

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Whisk together the honey, cinnamon, & vanilla in a larger bowl. Stir in the oats and mix until evenly coated.
• Toast sunflower seeds in a dry pan on medium heat until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse the almonds and dates in a food processor until coarsely chopped. 
• Add the toasted sunflower seeds and chopped almonds and dates to the oat mixture; mix well. The color of the mixture should be more of a purple hue.
• Press the mixture into an 8X8 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, then place in the freezer until firm. After about an hour, cut into bars and enjoy!
• Note: Store in airtight container up to 1 week.