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!

Health Awareness Month

May is National Health Month. We all try to do our best to be healthy, and be good to our bodies. But some times thats hard, but little changes are what can make the biggest differences. Plus if you make a bunch of small changes eventually they all add up into something much bigger. So this month we are post recipes that are delicious but have that healthy idea behind them. Be sure to check out our blog every Saturday for new recipes!

Here are some small ideas to help kick start your super healthy month!

Wear a pedometer. Wearable technology is becoming all the thing, but you don't have to be fancy. New research suggests that routinely wearing a pedometer encourages people to walk about an extra mile each day, lose weight, and lower their blood pressure. Aim for at least 30 minutes of brisk walking and a total of 10,000 steps per day.

Don't pop too many vitamins. Enthusiasm for vitamin pills is high, but evidence for their benefits is low. Try to get vitamins from foods and consider a multivitamin for insurance. Women should get at least 1,000 mgs of calcium per day (1,200 mgs/day if you're past menopause) from food and/or supplements. Everyone should also get 800 international units of Vitamin D per day -- more than the federal "Recommended Daily Allowance." A great way to get some of those vitamins is from our berries and berry products. Our mission is to give you guys, our customers, the most nutrient dense fruit possible. 

Eat at least two fish meals per week. The evidence is strong that the oils in darker types of fish, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel and herring, are beneficial for the heart and brain and may even lower risk of cancer.

Drink water. No matter where you are, water should always be the first thing you reach for when you're thirsty. Water truly is essential.

Sleep 8 hours a night. A number of recent studies have confirmed that you really do need at least 8 hours a night. Among the many benefits: Adequate sleep makes you feel better, decreases risk for cardiovascular disease, boosts memory and reduces the likelihood of being in a car accident.

Don't focus on dieting. Focus on eating. If you're hungry, you're more likely to overeat, especially in the evening. Instead, of sacrificing all day and gorging later, it's better to eat enough during the day to avoid hunger pangs and uncontrolled eating at night. Eat every four hours or so, and make sure to eat a "second lunch" -- think of it as another meal rather than a snack -- in the mid-afternoon to keep your energy up and make you less hungry in the evening.

See our recipes that go with this months theme!

Coconut Bliss
Grilled Salmon With Avocado Salsa
Chewy Raspberry Apple Granola Bars
Berry Good Smoothie

Up & Coming Announcement From SVO!

A while back we announced that in the year 2016 we would be having Black Raspberries for sale. Well we haven't added just one crop, but in fact two. At this time we would like to announce that in the harvest of 2016 we will also have Aronia berries. 

Aronia Berries are also know as "chokeberry" but have been rebranded into the Aronia. Native to North America, and most commonly found in wet woods and swamps. Places in Europe and Russia have been growing Aronia berries since the early 20th century. Uses for this berry include wines, syrups, juices, soft spreads, teas, salsas, chili starters, extracts, beer, ice cream, and gummies. Here in the United States, Iowa has been at this super foods heart. 

We are excited to start offering this along with all of our other berries and we think it will complement what we are already offering. Aronia berries are thought to be higher in antioxidants than all of our common super foods that we already know and love. While studies are still being conducted as to what exactly they can do, there are strong theories and reports that suggest these health benefits:

• Reduce blood pressure
• Reduce oxidized LDL cholesterol levels
• Reduce inflammation
• Reduce the chance of a heart attack
• Reduce recovery time following a heart attack
• Reduce weight gain
• Reduce eye inflammation
• Reduce muscle recovery time after workouts 
• Regulate Blood sugar
• Reduce the chance of developing cancer

We are excited to include Aronia berries as a new flavor to be included in our spreads, powders, dried, and frozen. We will keep everyone updated as we develop our new products and approach 2016's harvest. Who knows we might even sell them fresh at our farm stand!

For even more information (health benefits and such) please check out these links:

1. Heal With Food 
2. Superberries
3. Nutrition & You

April Rain Brings May Flowers....

Or at least that's what they say. We have been getting our fair share of rain here on the farm. We are so happy spring is in full swing, for those of you who have been following us on Facebook you have seen all the photos we have been posting of the process our Blueberries have been going through into full bloom. They are so beautiful to see. Our Raspberries and Blackberries won’t be blooming until later, and when they do you can bet we'll be sharing! So be                                                                                                            sure to be following us on Facebook! We have also been selling a ton of our dried blueberries. They are so delicious and make for a great snack! They are great in homemade granola, trail mix, muffins, cold cereal, oatmeal, basically anything you can think of these guys are great to throw into! We dry all of them here on our farm. We start with our sweetest berries; that during our harvest are washed, and cleaned by going over our in house packing line. They are packed into 30 pound boxes and held in freezers until we are ready to dry them. Then when ever we are running low on our dried blueberries we grab a couple of boxes and start the process of drying them. We have two commercial dryers at our disposal. We fill them and let them dry for anywhere 8 hours to 10 hours depending on the weather outside. Then we run moisture tests to make sure everything is stable and won’t mold. Then we package them and have them ready to go!

We have also finally finished all of our pruning around the farm! It feels like we have been mentioning pruning forever, but it’s a lot of hard work, that takes care and time to be done right. It’s important to prune a plant, pruning influences how a plant grows. Depending on what you want out of the plant you can help determine what the plant puts it’s energy into. Either plant growth (more limbs) or production (more fruit). If you have plants that are very small, or that are young you want the plant to focus on growth. If your plant is nice and big, and mature then you would want more production. If you haven’t pruned your plants yet there is still time! See our blog post that is specific to blueberries. 

Office Hours:

Spring is here, but we are still on our “Winter” hours of Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm Pacific time.

Better Shipping Rates Are Coming

To An End

Those of you who have taken advantage of our offer we thank you so much, we are so happy we can provide these better rates! However we know some of you have been waiting to place that order. And now is basically the final call. For people in the states in the Pacific Northwest (including: Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Nevada) we can easily provide better rates still. For anyone outside of these states please call us and we will see what we can do. As temperature rise we will no longer be able to offer these rates. April will be the last month we can offer general better rates, then it will be gone until next winter. You can call us at 541-752-0460 (Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm Pacific time).

Social Media Updates:

We have been hard at working updating and making changes. We are happy to announce our blog is finally back up and running. We would also like to announce our twitter account is back to being active. So all of those of you who prefer twitter to Facebook we will be posting a great deal there as well from now on. We appreciate all the patients everyone has had. This has been a very long bumpy road. We will continue to make more changes and improvements during the year and are excited for things we have coming.

You can find us now on Local Harvest. Local Harvest is a great resource to find farmers who produce local goods. They have a Local Harvest National Directory so even if you're on the East Coast you can use this to find farmers and vendors in your area! Click here to learn more about them.

Our Pinterest Board will be a continuation of Leap into Spring since we are just having so much fun finding recipes, gardening tips, decor inspiration, and all things to do with spring!

Organics To You

Some of you may already know about this company. For those of you who don’t they are a Portland, OR based company who has been delivery local goods to the good people of portland for the last 14 years. Now they have taken their business online and are buying products from vendors/farmers in Oregon to be delivered to anyone in Oregon! They have recently started buying our Blueberry Spread, we are so excited by their business and are happy to be supplying them with a fantastic healthy living choice! Click here to check them out.

Savings & Coupons

This month we have an ad in Willamette Living Magazine that offers a special code for our Tea. So keep your eyes peeled for that (this may also appear in the May edition, gotta keep you all on your toes)!

For those of you who use Facebook & Twitter we will be offering a code for our Teas here as well. Be sure to keep an eye out for those. They will be good for the whole month of April!

Autumn In The Air

Every year when the leaves start changing and days get colder some specific flavors tend to come to mind. Such as pumpkin pie, and it seems that pumpkin is making its way into everything these days which isn't a bad thing. Pumpkin is actually good for you, they are rich in vitamin A, so if you ate a cup of cooked pumpkin you would get 200% of recommended daily intake, pretty sweet deal if you ask me. They are also rich in carotenoids, the compound that our bodies use to convert into a form of vitamin A.

For those trying to watch their figure this year pumpkins can aid your goals, they are an over looked source of fiber, in a single cooked cup of pumpkin you get 3 grams, and only 49 calories. A fiber rich diet seems to help people eat less, and thus shred those unwanted pounds. Having a cup of cooked pumpkin after an intense work out can do a world of good, turns out pumpkin (564 milligrams) has more potassium than a banana (422 milligrams). A little extra potassium can help restore the body's balance of electrolytes. 

Every part of the pumpkin helps us, even its seeds. Pumpkin seeds can help your heart, they are rich in phytosterolds that have been shown in studies to reduce LDL or bad cholesterol. The seeds can also help give your mood a boost, they also have a ton of amino acid tryptophan, which is important in the production of serotonin, one of the major players when it comes to our mood. So feeling down? Grab a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds and brighten your day!

So our way of celebrating this season of pumpkin is through delicious pumpkin doughnut with our dried blueberries mixed in. Because who doesn't love doughnuts?

OLD FASHION PUMPKIN DOUGHNUTS WITH DRIED BLUEBERRIES

Ingredients:
(Doughnuts)

• 3 cups cake/soft-wheat flour (plus extra for rolling/cutting)
• 2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Iodized Salt
• ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. shortening/vegetable lard (trans fat-free preferred) 
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• ½ cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup S.V.O. Dried Blueberries
• Canola oil (for frying)

(Glaze)

• 4 ½ cups powdered sugar (sifted)
• 2 tsp. light corn/golden syrup
• ½ tsp. iodized salt
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ cup canned pumpkin
• ½ tsp. Vanilla extract
• ¼ cup hot water

Directions:

(Dough)

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice together into a med. Bowl. Set Aside. 
2. Using a mixer, mix the sugar and shortening/veggie lard for 1 minute on low speed, until sandy. Add the egg yolks, then mix for 1 more minute on med. speed, scraping the sides as you go, until mixture is light colored and thick.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three separate additions, alternating with the sour cream and pumpkin, mixing until just combined on low speed and scraping the sides of bowl each time. Add Dried Blueberries, hand stir until just mixed. The dough will be sticky, like wet cookie/biscuit dough.
4. Transfer dough to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 45 minutes or up to 24 hours. 

(Glaze)

1. 
   
2. Meanwhile you can make the glaze: Place powdered sugar, corn/golden syrup, salt, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin and vanilla in your mixing bowl, mix on medium speed while adding the hot water in a slow/steady stream, and blend until all the sugar has been incorporated (scrape bowl if necessary). Set Aside. 
3. Using a candy thermometer to measure the temp, heat oil (at least 2 inches deep) in a deep fryer/large pot/high-sided frying pan to 325 degrees F.
4. Roll out the chilled dough on a generously floured counter or cutting board to ½ inch thick, or about 8 inches in diameter, flouring the top of dough and the rolling pin as necessary. Cut into as many doughnuts and holes as possible, dipping the cutter into flour before each cut. 

Originally from epicurean

For even more healthy halloween dishes and treats check out our Pinterest board of the month! 

Trick or Treat? Healthy Halloween

Halloween doesn't have to be about candy, and unhealthy foods. We scoured the internet rounding up what we think are some pretty creative and healthy alternatives for this halloween. Any of these would be great for parties, kids, or just a little treat for yourself. If you find your self loving these treats check out our full collection on our Pinterest board of the month!

Candy Corn Popsicles 
Originally from Girl Inspired

Ingredients: 
Yogurt (plain or greek) 
Orange Juice
Pineapple Juice
Honey/Agave
Optional: Food Coloring

Directions:

• Mix honey/agave with yogurt.
• In a popsicle mold layer yogurt mixture, and let freeze 4-5 mins. 
• Add Orange juice layer and let freeze 4-5 mins.
• Add Pineapple juice and let freeze until all layers have hardened.  (Optional: you can add food coloring to the orange juice and pineapple juice but it looks fine with out as well.) 
• Enjoy! Pretty simple, but super healthy. 

Stuffed Jack-O-Lantern Peppers

Originally from citronlimett 

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups cooked brown rice
• 4 medium bell peppers
• ¾ pound ground sirloin
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup bottled tomato-and-basil pasta sauce, divided
• ½ cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup chicken broth

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Wash the peppers. Cut jack-o’-lantern faces into the peppers with a sharp paring knife, making triangle eyes and nose, and pointy-teeth smiles. Slice off the tops of the peppers and scoop out the seeds and cores.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and the next 5 ingredients (beef through allspice); cook 4 minutes or until beef is lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from heat. Add rice, ½ cup pasta sauce, and cheese to beef mixture, stirring to combine.
4. While beef cooks, combine ½ cup pasta sauce and chicken broth in a small saucepan; bring to a boil.
5. Spoon about ¾ cup beef mixture into each pepper. Place peppers in a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray; add chicken broth/sauce mixture to pan. Cover with foil and bake for about 35–40 minutes. Uncover; bake an additional 5 minutes.

Jack-O'-Lantern Fruit Bowls

Originally from Frugal Coupon Living

Ingredients: 

3 Medium Navel Oranges

1 Cup of fresh mixed fruit- your choice!

Directions:

• Slice off the tops of the oranges.
• Using a spoon, scoop out the pulp of the oranges.
• Cut out faces on each orange to resemble a jack-o-lantern.
• Fill each orange with mixed fruit and serve. 

A Healthy Halloween

Here are some yummy recipes to inspire a happy & healthy halloween!

Happy Halloween Snacks!
Cut bananas in half.  Press in mini chocolate chips for eyes and a regular chocolate chip for the mouth.Peel tangerines.  Add sliced celery for the stems.




Funky Frankenstein

Spread some mayo, bread spread or flavored cheese spread on a slice of bread. Lay some cucumber ribbons and top with slices of carrot , 

olive, pea , and red bell  pepper ( for mouth). Use cheese and nachos to

 make teeth , scar and hair respectively. Draw some funky features 

on a hard boiled egg andf let the fun begin.

Juicy Jack- o - Lantern 

Spread some mayo, bread spread or flavored cheese spread on a slice

 of bread. Lay some carrot ribbons and top with some beet and cilantro.

Draw a scary eyeball and veins  on a hard boiled egg and let the fun begin. 

 Yummy Mummy 

Spread some hummus, pesto  or flavored cheese spread on a slice

 of bread. Lay carrot & olive eyes & top with radish  ribbons . Draw 

some zombie features on a hard boiled egg n get ready to cast a spell. 

Halloweggs 

Some unshelled hard boiled eggs & colorful food markers &  is 

all that you need to make this lil Halloween edible craft. 

Source: Little Food Junction

Willamette Living Magazine, August Issue

Check out this months issue of Willamette Living Magazine! Our fresh blueberries and raspberries made the cover, and the look simply delicious! We also had the amazing opportunity to hand pick some recipes for the magazine. These can be found on page 94 of the online edition, and page 63 of the printed edition. Check it out here.

Heart Healthy Articles

February is National Heart month! Here are SVO's top 5 favorite articles about having a healthy hear or helping your heart.

• Heart Disease Prevention

• Heart Healthy Foods: Recipies

• Our Top 15 Heart- Healthy Foods

• 5 Heart-Healthy Foods

• Strawberries, blueberries can boost a woman's heart health

   

  
  

The Power of Color in What We Eat

We have been reading a lot recently about how the color of the food we eat has a deeper meaning than just appealing to our taste buds.

 In an article from Vita Choice they featured an article that talked about a study in China found evidence that "provided clinical evidence that they anthocyanin-type polyphenols in berries" which basically means that the antioxidant compounds in berries and select other foods (eggplant, black rice, grapes, and red cabbage) have this natural "anthoccyanin."

In another article it was talked about how it use to be thought that polyphenols were thought to be directly related to the antiodidants in plant foods, however it now become clearer that they are but not to such a significant extent as it was thought. Polyphenolos bring their benefits mostly through indirect means, or "nutrigenomic" effects. These effects are evident by anti-inflammatory responses and beneficially modular in the bodies antioxidant network (this includes enzymes, lipoci acid, etc.).

Below you will find these articles mentioned above and a couple of other for further reading.
Enjoy!

• Berry Colors Cut Heart-Attacking Inflammation
•  Can Berry Colors Help Hearts and Brains?
•  Blueberries Aid and Relax Arteries
• Berries' Brain Benefits Affirmed, Expanded

Berries’ Brain Benefits

A pretty large body of evidence indicates that berries boost brain functions … and may help prevent memory loss and other age-related declines. 

Thanks to research published two years ago by researchers from the Tufts-USDA lab, we now know that berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial, but previously unrecognized, way.

To Read More About What Vita Choice Has to Say Click Here

Blueberries May Control Breast Cancer Tumor Growth

Blueberries May Reduce Tumor Growth Between 60-to-75 Percent!

The study found that the oral intake of blueberries could reduce the growth and metastasis of a very aggressive form of breast cancer (triple-negative cancer) - for which there are very few effective drugs. When researchers applied blueberry extracts to cancer cells in the laboratory it appeared to stop the growth and spread of a tumor.

 To Find out more about How Blueberries can help in Breast Cancer Visit the Following Websites:

1. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cancer-researchers-say-blueberries-may-control-breast-cancer-tumor-growth-2011-09-26
2. http://www.preparedfoods.com/articles/blueberries-on-breast-cancer
3. http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/blueberries-may-reduce-growth-breast-cancer
4. http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/health/your_health&id=7388978