Nectarine & Aronia Berry Tart

Original posting is over on The Unicorn's Delight, be sure the site for even more delicious healthy recipes!

"There are tons of unlikely duos out there when it comes to food. Such as cheese & jelly, chocolate & salt, broccoli & Cheetos, Mango & chili, goat milk & caramel, sriracha & peanut butter. A personal favorite of mine is peanut butter and pickle sandwiches-it’s an acquired taste, I’ll admit, but so good! Well, I seem to have stumbled upon another unlikely duo; Nectarines and Aronia berries! They are delicious together.

Aronia berries are being harvested all over the united states right now. If your unfamiliar with this super fruit, it’s not surprising. While they are king of the super berries, they also pack quite a punch with an earthy, astringent flavor that typically drys out the mouth, think like a dry wine. They are also known as chokeberries, native to mid-west America, for years they have been seen as a weed, and removed from farm lands. However now, with the discovery of their nutritional value, farmers are planting them like crazy. If you live outside of the mid-west you might find them in your yard, because they have been commonly used in landscaping.

Some of the health benefits Aronia berries can offer are:

• Urinary Track Health
• Improve Blood Circulation & Strengthen Blood Vessels
• Balance of Blood Pressure Levels
• Prevention and help in treatment of diabetes
• Gastro Protective Effect
• Anti-Carcinogenic Effect
• Anti-Inflammatory Properties, Suppress Viruses
• Eyes Protection
• Weight Control

Sunset Valley Organics is doing something unique with their plantings of aronia berries. They are applying what they call biological farming practices, which basically means they are putting minerals back into their soil, remineralizing it, which they have seen healthier plants, more nutritional fruit, the plants are able to defend themselves from insects and disease, and most recently they are finding their aronia berry plantings have less of that earthy, astringent flavor, even though the tannins in the skin that cause the astringent flavor are still there.

How can that be? Well it’s from the minerals doing their job, and interacting in such a way that the plant is producing fruit that has a higher sugar content, or Brix. (Brix is the standard unit of measure for sugar content.)  That natural sugar is over riding the tannins and making them have a mild flavor. This year Sunset Valley Organics is seeing their aronia berries having an average of 26 brix, compared to last year they had 22, and the average, conventional aronia growers hit somewhere between 15-19.

The first time I ever tried an aronia berry I had to spit it out. It was so gross tasting to me, and it was around 19 Brix, the tannins were over powering, and it felt like I was eating literal dirt. Not a good experience. But when I tried last years crop from Sunset Valley Organics, I could actually eat them. It was so surprising! I started using them in baking and smoothies. My favorite recipe I’ve found is Oatmeal Aronia berry cookies, so good, and can be a healthy snack! 

So now with berries that are around 26 brix I’ve started incorporating them into other forms of baking, like today’s recipe! Because Aronia berries aren’t common at all, it’s important to experiment and play with them.

SO LET’S GET TO THE GOOD STUFF, THE RECIPE!

What You’ll Need:

• 5-6 medium sized nectarines, sliced
• Pie Crust- You can use store bought or my recipe (below) for a healthier version.
• 1 Cup fresh/frozen Sunset Valley Organic’s Aronia Berries
• 1/4 cup Thick apricot jam
• 3/4 cup water

Pie Crust Ingredients:

Coconut Pie Crust- Makes 1 full pie crust (top & bottom)

• 1 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2/3 cup (160 g) coconut oil, scoopable (not liquid)*
• 3-6 Tbsp (45-90 ml) ice cold water

What You’ll Do:

Pie Crust:

1. Add flour and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
2. Next add coconut oil in spoonfuls (see photo) and use a pastry cutter (or fork) to cut the two together, until it resembles wet sand – about 30-45 seconds.
3. Add ice cold water 1 Tbsp at a time and use a wooden spoon to gently mix. Add only as much water as needed to help it come together and form a dough – about 3-4 Tbsp.
4. Use your hands to gently knead/form the dough in the bowl and gather any loose scraps. Then transfer directly to a well-floured surface and form into a disc with your hands.
5. Lightly flour the top of the dough, as well as a rolling pin, and gently roll into a circle the shape of your pie pan, about 1/8-inch thick. Add more flour as needed to prevent sticking. It’s fairly forgiving, so if it cracks, just patch it up with slightly wet fingers and reform.
6. If using a standard 9-inch (or similar size) pie crust, simply use the rolling pin to roll up crust and drape it over the pan. Form the edges simply (avoiding too tall of edges or fancy designs as the coconut oil doesn’t hold it as well as butter) and add filling of choice. Roll out remaining crust, drape over the top of pie, and seal (optional).

Note: To save uncooked dough for future use, wrap in plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator for 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Thaw before using.

 Tart filling: 

1. Pre heat oven to 375 F. Start with pie dough rolled out on to a baking sheet. We did a nine inch pie crust.
2. Lay sliced nectarines one inch from the edge of the pie dough in a circular pattern, layering until all pie dough is covered.
3. Fold 1 inch edge of dough on top nectarines, and pinch to stay in place.
4. Evenly distribute the aronia berries on top of the nectarines.
5. In a small pot bring apricot jam and water to a slow boil, until well combined and is a thin mixture.
6. Brush evenly on top of nectarines and aronia berries.
7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown appears on pie crust.
8. Let cool 5 minutes, serve warm & enjoy!"

Aronia Berry Granola Bars

ARONIA BERRY GRANOLA BARS

Last April we included this recipe in our newsletter, and we are still loving it! Especially with school starting back up these are the perfect on the go snack that are packed full with nutrition. Even better these tasty treats don't take a whole lot of time to whip up! 

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. 

Aronia Berry Oatmeal Cookies

Aronia berries are a fun ingredient to experiment with. Our Aronia berries are unique in that they are so packed full of nutrients that the brix (sugar content) is actually a lot higher than average and this makes the tannens in the berry not so much at the forfront of the taste. Instead a sweetness starts to come through.

Typically this is a good indication of nutrition in our foods accross the board; nutrition=more flavor.

Then when you bake, or heat the aronia berries their astrengent weakens even more. So we've been baking, like A LOT! So we've developed two yummy recipes for Aronia berry oatmeal cookies. Today we will be sharing our conventional recipe, and keep an eye out for our gluten free aronia berry cookies coming next week.

Ingredients:

• 1 C. All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• 1/2 TSP Baking Soda
• 1/4 TSP Salt
• 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened to room temp
• 1/2 C Brown Sugar
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 1 and 1/2 cups Old-Fashioned Oats
• 1 C Dried Aronia Berries

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for 1-2 minutes until well combined. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined.
3. Slowly mix in the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined, then mix in the oats and raisins until fully combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
4. Cover the cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside. 
6. Once the dough is chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and scoop out 2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough and dropped onto the prepared baking sheets. Make sure to leave a little room between each ball of cookie dough as they will spread a little while they bake. 
7. Bake in separate batches at 350 F. for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown and the top is set. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Notes: 

-Prep time includes 30 minutes of chilling time 

-Cookies may be stored on the counter in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

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.

New Products & Energy Bites!

March was crazy busy and stressful for us. But it all paid off, we are so proud to announce we now have new berry powders available in our shop! We now offer a full line of berry powders; Blueberry, Blackberry, Black Raspberry, Red Raspberry, & Aronia Berry!

Be sure to be following us on Instagram for random sales, and fun photos of what we're up to around the farm!

During the month of April when you purchase any of our powders (4oz or more) you will receive a 2oz sample of another flavor. No coupon needed, this is just something we are doing so our customers can try more of our new products!

We've gotten one common question about our powders which is "How do you use it?" So we thought we would share some of the ways we use our powders. If you receive our newsletter then you saw this months featured recipe of 'No Bake Blueberry Energy Bites' well that was just a jumping point for us. We dived in head first into Energy bites, and the results are really delicious!

Our Base Recipe:

• 1 TBSP Coconut Oil
• 1/3 C Almond Butter (or nut butter of your choice)
• 1/4 C Honey (or maple syrup)
• 1/2 C Old Fashioned Oats
• 2 TBSP Chia Seeds

The Add Ins We Love:

• Raspberry Powder
• Blueberry Powder
• Blackberry Powder
• Aronia Berry Powder
• Black Raspberry Powder
• Coconut Flakes-Unsweetened
• Chopped Almonds

Instructions:
1. Prepare baking sheet with lined parchment, set aside.
2. Melt coconut oil in a large bowl.
3. Stir in the nut butter, honey (or maple syrup) until smooth. Add the oats, chia seeds, and mix ins.
4. Roll into 1 tablespoon balls and place on prepared baking sheet, and place in freezer for up to an hour.
5. Remove from freezer and transfer balls into plastic bag.
6. Store in the fridge for up to one week or the freezer for up to 3 months.

Aronia Berry Coconut Crunch Nutrient Dense Energy Bites: 2 tsp aronia berry powder, 1/4 cup roughly chopped unsalted almonds, 1/4 cup coconut flakes.

Black Raspberry Coconut Nutrient Dense Energy Bites: base recipe + 2 tsp black raspberry powder, 1/4 cup coconut flakes.

Blueberry Crunch Nutrient Dense Energy Bites: base recipe + 2 tsp Blueberry powder, 1/4 cup roughly chopped unsalted almonds. (You can also add in 1/4 cup dried blueberries for even more flavor!)

Raspberry Coconut Nutrient Dense Energy Bites: base recipe + 2 tsp raspberry powder, 1/4 cup coconut flakes.

Fun fact about working with the powders, they don't come off on your hands when forming the balls, so you don't have to worry about your hands getting covered in it! :) 

If you try any other combinations or with other add ins we would love to hear about! Leave us a comment here, on Instagram or on our Facebook page!

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. 

Say Hello To The New Superfood!

Starting today we have a limited supply of Certified Organic Frozen Aronia berries for sale in our store. 

A lot of people are just hearing about this awesome superfood, so we thought we would compile some information together and share it with our customers. Over the next few weeks we will be adding more information, and further reading articles, so be sure to come back and check out the updates! 

Health Benefits Of Aronia Berries ( also known as Chokeberries)

Recently aronia berries have been gaining popularity among health conscious people who are looking to add more superfoods to their diets. Aronia berries are packed with nutrients and antioxidants, such as vitamin C and anthocyanin, and offer wonderful health benefits for those who want to improve their health through better nutrition. 

The uses of Aronia berries are numerous, and come in all forms. Fresh & Frozen aronia berries are commonly used to make juice, jame, syrup, and wine. Dried aronia berries can be eaten as a healthy snack, added to muesli, or used in muffins and other baked goodies. In some countries, dried aronia berries are used to make antioxidant-rich herbal tea. 

Like other superfoods, the Aronia berry is high in antioxidants, what sets Aronia berries apart is the ORAC number, which supersedes all most all other berries. Antioxidants protect against many degenerative diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, and to slow down aging in general. They are also a crucial component of anti-wrinkle diseases as they help protect skin from harmful effects of environmental pollutants, tabacco smoke, the sun's ultraviolet radiation, and other factors that cause the body to product free radicals. 

Aronia berries can also help with prevention of cold and flu. With a spoonful of dried aronia berries or juice, aronia berries have traditionally been used by Potawatomi indians to cure colds, and recent research confirms the antiviral properties and high vitamin C content. A group of Bulgarian scientists found Aronia melanocarpa to have in-vitro anti-viral activity against type A influenza virus as well as bacteriostatic activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. 

Other areas Aronia Berries can help in:

1. Urinary Tract Health
2. Improve Blood Circulation & Strengthens Blood Vessels
3. Balance of Blood Pressure Levels
4. Prevention and Help in treatment of diabetes
5. Gastro Protective Effect
6. Anti-Carcinogenic Effect
7. Anti-Inflammatory Properties, Suppress viruses
8. Eyes Protection
9. Weight Control

Check out our Blog for more nutritional information about Aronia Berries!

November Themes

It hardly seems like Christmas is next month! But first we have the great month of November, we love November around here. This month we will be posting about two very important topics, Alzheimer's Awareness, as well as Diabetes Awareness. Each Saturday we will have either a stimulating recipe for Alzheimer's Awareness or a healthy alternative for Thanksgiving for Diabetes Awareness.

Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. It's the most common cause of dementia, a group of brain disorders that results in the loss of intellectual and social skills. Sadly scientist don't fully understand what the actual cause of Alzheimer's disease. But as research continues, it is becoming apparent that a series of complex events take place in the brain over a long period of time, it is thought that it also involves a mix of genetics, environmental and lifestyle factors. In America 5.2 million people of all ages (2013) have Alzheimer's. 5 Million of that are 65 years of age or older.

While there is no known cure for Alzheimer's there are ways of slowing the progression. Specifically we will be focusing on blueberries and their link to slowing Alzheimer's. Scientist and researchers are not 100% on what exactly the link, or magic is between the two but the theory is that because Blueberries are so high in Antioxidants.

Why are Antioxidants important? Because they help repair tissue, cells, and DNA that have been damaged specifically by free radicals. Free radicals are all around us, from being exposed to the sun, the foods we eat, even our bodies create free radicals from the process of digestion. However as long as diets are high in antioxidants then the thought is that the free radical production can be kept in check.

Another thing that is magical about Blueberries is that they have high amounts of anthocyanin, this is what gives the berries that blue & purple color. Anthocyanin can also be found in other berries such as raspberries, blackberries, strawberries,  and aronia berries.

Final Harvest Report for 2015

Happy Monday Everyone! As most of you are aware of we closed our U-Pick about two weeks ago now (wow how time flies!) and we had such a great season! Thanks to everyone who came and bought/picked from us. We wanted to make one final harvest report, because tho we are done harvesting (and processing!) our blueberries we still are picking and processing blackberries, and Aronia berries.

We have finally finished harvesting and processing our blueberries. If you ordered bulk 30 pound boxes from us you should have received a phone call letting you know they are ready to be picked up. If not, feel free to call us at 541-752-0460.

Our blueberries did incredible this year. We harvested, and processed a record amount! We made it through the hot weather and our farming practices are really starting to show. If you missed it check out the following table. In 2010 we test our berries for what minerals where in them and how they stacked up against our competition. This summer we did it again, and we have seen a ton of improvement. 

Our blackberries are still being harvested and processed. We are not selling any fresh but we will have frozen in the coming weeks. (Just the same as raspberries- we expect to have these suckers back in stock in mid September.)

Our Aronia berries are just a baby crop and we are still at least a week away from picking them. It's just a baby crop and we are excited to start experimenting with them in freeze dried powders and spreads. If you are unaware what Aronia berries are check out this post from us, it give a good over view of them.

We also wish to remind everyone we have switched to our Fall/Winter Hours, Monday - Friday 10 am to 4 pm.

Lastly we are trying to get to 1000 likes on Facebook, when this happens we will be doing a contest/giveaway of our products! So tell your friends, family members, and neighbors about us!

SVO August Newsletter

August Already?! 

This summer is just flying by! We have never been so busy as we are this summer. Because berries were early our blueberries and blackberries are having to be harvested at the same time. Which makes for a lot of excitement. It seems that this year we are having to deal with all kinds of new problems, such as we had to figure out if we had enough crates to put berries in, in contrast to how fast we were processing them. These are the kind of problems we want to have. 

Follow Us on Social Media! Facebook Twitter Blog Pinterest Instagram

Details of our Harvest

Machine Picker Unloading Blueberries on Truck

If you have been following us on any of our social media we have been sending out weekly updates called “Harvest Reports” in which we summarize what is going on for the week, what we have available for purchase at our farm stand and how we think our berries are ripening. This is the best way other than giving us a call, to find out how things are going. Click here to read our latest Harvest Report. 

We are officially done with the fresh season, our Farm Stand is now closed, and that means our U-Pick is now closed as well.  We had a great season and are already looking forward to next years harvest! 

We are still processing blueberries and blackberries. So if your on our list to call we have some updated information for you: If you ordered Jersey (the small berries) you should have received a phone call from us by now. If you ordered Blue Crop (the bigger berries) we are still processing them and will be calling you soon. If you haven't gotten a call and think you should have you can call us at 541-752-0560.

Fresh Picked Blackberries

We are also excited to be harvesting a baby crop of Aronia berries. We are hopefully to start experiments for products this fall (including freeze dried powder!). 

We expect to be done processing all of this years fruit some time in mid August. 

We will of course continue to offer frozen berries all year round. We expect to have raspberries back in stock sometime in late September. We have frozen blueberries available, and strawberries. For blackberries we currently have 5 pound cases, and later on after harvest we will have the 25 pound cases back in stock. 

Once we have a product back in stock we will announce it on our twitter and Facebook so be sure to be following us! 

Other Useful Links: SVO Website  Local Harvest

Back to Fall/Winter Hours

We are switching back to our fall/winter hours of Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm PST. 

Nutrition Tests

Back in 2010 we sent our blueberries to a lab to have some independent testing done for the nutrition of our berries. Well this year we sent them away again to see where we stand and if we had improved at all. We are happy to announce the following table are our results. (This is for blueberries only)

We will be updating our website to reflect these new results. We are very excited about our improvements, and that we are continuing to uphold a standard of healthy living for our customers. 

Social Butterflies!

We have had a very busy month on Facebook, Twitter, and our Blog. It’s the best way to keep up to date with our harvest this year. Each week we post about our harvest, recipes, and more! On Facebook this summer we have a goal of getting to 1,000 likes, we are currently at 852, at 1000 likes we will be having a give a away of a gift basket full of our products. So if you haven't liked us please do so, and share our page with all your friends & family! We will announce details for the give away on our Facebook once we have hit 1,000 likes. 

We would also like to announce that we now have an active Instagram account. You can follow us@SVOrganics . On our Instagram you can see more details about our harvest and yummy recipes we love to make! 

This month Pinterest we will be doing a few different things. First we have a brand new board celebrating all the great things about America, especially the delicious food! We are also adding to our Blueberry, Raspberry, and BlackberryInspired boards, as well as Harmonious Berry Blends. We also have a new board,Summer Adventures.

Blueberry Chicken Chopped Salad

Ingredients: 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts Salt and pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 head Romaine lettuce, finely chopped 1 pint (2 cups) fresh blueberries 1 cup roughly-chopped toasted pecans 2/3 cup diced red onion 1/2 cup blue cheese (or any soft cheese) Dijon vinaigrette (see below) To make the salad: Season chicken breasts on both sides generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add chicken breasts and cook for 4-5 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside. Transfer chicken breasts to a separate plate and let rest for at least 5-10 minutes.  Then chop into small, bite-sized pieces. Add the chicken to a large bowl with the lettuce, blueberries, pecans, red onion, blue cheese, and vinaigrette. Toss to combine.  Serve immediately. Number of servings (yield): 3-5 Dijon Vinaigrette 1/3 cup olive oil 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 teaspoons honey 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard Pinch of salt and black pepper To make the vinaigrette: Whisk all ingredients together until combined.