Harvest Update: Raspberries, Blueberries + More!

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for coming to check in! We are happy to report the red raspberries are in full swing and are selling like hot cakes. We are having a hard time picking enough to keep them at the stand. So if your wanting to get your hands on some of these awesome berries, in a big way, please call a head and place your order. This way we can guarantee  you will have all the raspberries your heart can desire.

For our fresh picked blueberries we are still picking duke. We think that next week we change our variety to Blue Crop. These are our big, sweet berries that are the same variety for our U-Pick Field.

Speaking of U-Pick, we are still expecting to open our field around the 4th of July which is coming up! Our price per pound will be $2.75.

For those of you who are curious we have been tireless working on black raspberries, making sure they will be nice and healthy for next year. We have been going out and picking some that are just for us. But they are making us really excited, and we are so proud to be adding this to our collection of berries we offer.

The blackberries have finished blooming and we are now seeing a fantastic berry set.

Harvest Update: Open Season

It's finally happening! Our farm stand is opening this week with pre picked berries! Here are all the details you'll need!

Officially Opening: Wednesday, June 17, 2015 at 9 am
Farm Stand Hours: Monday - Sunday 9 am to 6 pm
What We Have: Pre Picked blueberries, and raspberries. 

We expect our farm stand to be open from June 17, 2015 until August 1, 2015. We estimate our U-Pick blueberries will open around the 4th of July. The price of our U-Pick blueberries will be $2.75 per pound. Keeping an eye on our social media, and here on our blog is the best way to stay informed about our harvest. 

If your wanting more than a flat of raspberries we kindly ask you call a head and place an order with us. You can reach us at 541-752-0460, please call during business hours. 

We are so excited to finally start the season, and we can't wait to see you all out at our farm stand and in the field this summer! 

Trellising of Black Raspberries

As we have previously stated we will be having black raspberries starting in 2016. We are so excited about it but in order to get there we have a ton of work to do. In the early spring we planted these cute little guys. Now that they are wanting to grow and get some energy going we need to put in some trellising. We planted 20 acres of black raspberries and we have to put trellising on all of it! What a task! Luckily we have an excellent crew who has worked very had and done a fantastic job. 

Here is our quick look at the process of how we put in our trellising:

If you would like to see more photos check out our Facebook album! 

April 2015 Event Photos

We went to First Alternatives Earth Day Vendor Fair on April 22, 2015. Here are some photos from that:

First Alternative South Store Location

For more Photos from this event please check out our Facebook album!

We Also Attended Tyee's Open House on 

April 25, 2015

Tyee's Open House, Step into My Parlor

Our little set up with our products and Jenna! 

To See more from this event check out our Facebook album!

Stress Awareness Month

Our culture is fast paced, and we all have a million things going on all at once. Not to mention when things go wrong or something makes a hiccup. We all get stressed out, but eating right and taking care of our bodies can help us relieve some of that stress. I know after a bad day some people reach for chocolate or other comfort foods, but that might actually be doing more harm than good. 

If your looking for some stress relieve its best to avoid things that will give your body extreme highs and lows, things like caffeine and alcohol. Avoiding sugars is also good because sugars can cause your blood sugar to spike then fall quickly, which reflects upon your energy level. Which can leave you still feeling stressed and outta energy, not fun. 

So there is a lot that you should avoid when stressed, but what about the things you can eat? Luckily there are a ton of healthy, delicious things that help you keep you stress levels down. When your stressed your body releases hormones that affect your mood. Eating certain vitamins and minerals such as folic acid (found in asparagus) and B vitamins can help keep your mood steady because they're needed to make serotonin, which is a chemical that directly affects mood in a positive way.

Things that are on the "to eat" list include:

• Beef, high in zinc, iron, and B vitamins which can help stablize your mood. If your concened about fat content you can always ask your grocery store butcher for a lean cut. 
• Milk, high in antioxidants, vitamins B2 & B12, protein, and calcium. Grabbing a bowl of whole grain cereal and low fat milk in the morning is a great way to start your day with a stress fighting breakfast. 
• Cottage Cheese and Fruit, packed with protein and calcium. Foods with high protein content that aren't loaded with sugar won't cause a spike in blood sugar and will keep you satiated for a longer time. Mixing Cottage Cheese with fruits that are high in vitamin C (such as oranges) is not only delicious but super healthy,  as vitamin C is thought to play a role in fighting stress and is also an antioxidant that fights free radicals that get released when stressed. These radicals have been shown as a cause for cancer. 
• Almonds, a good source for vitamin B2 & E as well as magnesium and zinc. Plus you can really crunch into them and get some aggression out! 
• Blueberries, super rich in antoixidants but also offer high fiber, low calorie fruit opetion, that also is full of Vitamin C. Makes great to throw in cereal or Cottage cheese.
• Tuna, A great lunch option, tuna is high in stress-fighting vitamins B6 and B12. Tuna is also a good low-fat protein source.
•  Cornflakes or Crispy Rice Cereal, Although they aren't low in sugar, cornflakes and crispy rice cereal are fortified with B vitamins and folic acid to help reduce stress. Have them for breakfast with milk. Geise also recommends having them dry as an afternoon snack.

October Updates

The days are getting shorter and colder and that means fall is in full force. We have been keeping busy around the farm and getting all our crops ready for winter. We are also enjoying watching our blueberry fields turn from their lush green color to autumn’s deep red. 

With all of our berries being now out of season we have frozen available in blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries. Unfortunately however, the raspberries sold like hot cakes and we are out of them till next season. 

For this upcoming holiday season we have added new gift boxes to our website that make for the perfect healthy holiday gift, these are also a perfect treat for your. We are currently sold out of our blueberry speed, but never fear, we will have it back in stock in mid-November. 

October Special:

Head on over to our website to check out our special this month! In honor of Halloween we have paired a 4oz bag of dried blueberries with our delicious 3oz bag of chocolate blueberry clusters for $11 (plus shipping). We will have the chocolate clusters available this month and for the holiday season. Get them while you can! Link

This is also the time of the year when we are able to ship our frozen berries at a better rate by ground. This is not offered through our site, so if you try ordering through it you will end up paying normal prices. If you interested in this please call our office at 541-752-0460 between 10 am-4pm Pacific time, Monday through Friday.

Follow us on Facebook, and Pinterest

If you have already followed us on Pinterest please note we are currently updating to a company Pinterest site and request you like our new profile page so that you still see all of our pins. Thanks for your help in making this transition as smooth as possible!

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. 

Home Garden Care: Strawberries

You can enjoy fresh strawberries during the summer from your garden, and the best part is they are relatively easy to take care of. Here are some tips and tricks if your new, or looking to learn more about growing strawberries.

Different varieties produce fruit at various times during the growing season. After your strawberries are finished producing fruit, usually in summer or fall, cut or mow the plants down to 1 or 2 inches above the crowns. When winter arrives, it's time to care for your strawberry plants by keeping them warm until spring. Cover strawberry plants once temperatures drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Use 3 to 4 inches of loose mulch, such as straw or leaves. This is necessary in climates where winter temperatures are regularly below freezing. Remove mulch in spring when the strawberry plants start to grow again or when temperatures remain regularly above freezing.

Protect strawberry plants temporarily in warmer climates on unusual cold, freezing nights. In the evening, cover plants with a sheet of spunbound polyethylene, recommends University of Oregon, and remove it in the morning. A bed sheet or piece of burlap can suffice in a crunch.

Bring potted strawberries to a protected area where freezing temperatures are not an issue. Potted plants are not as insulated as ground plants and are more susceptible to winter injury. A covered porch, garage or basement might work well. If you cannot move the container, cover the plants with mulch as you would ground plants or drape a piece of burlap over top of the container.

Some other resources to consider:

Sunset Article

Old Farmers Almanac

Then with all your delicious berries you can try out this yummy recipe!

Strawberry Shortcake Pops

makes 12 popsicles

2 cups fresh strawberries, washed and hulled

1/2 cup crushed Nilla wafers
2 cups plain whole milk yogurt
1/3 cup honey (more if desired)
12 6 oz. Dixie cups
wooden popsicle sticks

In a medium bowl, combine the crushed Nilla wafers, yogurt, and honey. Set out 12 6 oz. Dixie cups, and fill each one with 2 tablespoons of the yogurt mixture. Set in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, puree the berries. Divide the berries among the 12 cups, and freeze for another 30 minutes.

Finally, divide the remaining yogurt mixture among the cups, add a popsicle stick to each one, and chill completely, several hours or more.

To serve, simply cut or tear the cup off. 

From Babble

Take Roots Magazine Feature

This month we are featured in Take Roots Magazine, pick up a copy today or click here to read online. Our article is on page 28. 

Starting the New Year

This is just a note that our office is once again open! We are open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm, pacific time. We are also all caught up on shipping which is really good news, especially after that fantastic Christmas sale we had!

We did experience a few problems with it, which is disappointing, but if you experience anything and want to share, leave us a comment, send us an email, or feel free to call us during business hours.

Also check out our Facebook for future announcements about sales, and details for the summer berry seasons.

Heathy Twist on Thanksgiving

In need of some healthy alternatives for this Thanksgiving? We have been stumbling across what we thing could really be some delicious stuff!

1. 7 Healthy Twists on Your Favorite Thanksgiving Dishes- This seven slideshow shows some great alternatives to the traditional dishes and also gives you the recipe right there! Now thats convient!

2. 9 'Recipes' for a healthy Thanksgiving- This slideshow gives recipes as well as tips on staying healthy during thanksgiving this year. 

3. Pumpkin Souffle- Serves 8: Nutritional value per serving:  Cal 109/Fat 2 grams/Carbs 19 grams/Fiber 3 grams/Protein 5 grams

  Ingredients: 

• 2 tbsp. demerara sugar
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 (15 oz.)can pumpkin puree
• ¼ cup whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup 2% fat milk
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. fresh minced rosemary
• ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• 2 egg yolks, room temperature
• 4 egg whites, room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp. cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tbsp. demerara sugar and ½ tsp. ground cinnamon.
3. Coat  8 (6oz.) ramekins or a 1 ½ quart soufflé dish with cooking spray.  Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar and set aside.
4. In a small saucepan over medium heat, add flour then gradually add the milk, whisking until blended.
5. Cook for about 3 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly.
6. Take off the heat and stir in the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, rosemary, nutmeg and salt.
7. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg yolks on high-speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes.
8. Slowly add milk mixture to egg yolks, stirring constantly.
9. In another large bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high-speed until soft peaks form.  Slowly pour in sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff peaks.
10. Gently stir in ¼ of the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture.
11. Then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites being careful not to deflate the egg whites.
12. Pour mixture into ramekins.  Place ramekins on a baking sheet.  Bake individual soufflés for 18 to 20 minutes, one large soufflé for 1 hour until soufflé has puffed and is golden brown.

Autumn is Upon Us!

Happy start of september! We have finished up our blackberries and are putting our fields to bed for a nice long rest after they did so good this summer. They deserve a break! We will NOT be at the Corvallis Farmer's Market this fall, and WILL be open at our farm during the week. Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm.

We love watching our fall colors come into our blueberry bushes:

Need Inspiration for the 4th of July?

Then let us inspire you! Here are some of our favorite recipes that use berries and will help celebrate our independence day! All of these recipes can be found on our Pinterest board under Harmonious Berry Blends.

First up is Blueberry, Strawberry, & Jicama Salsa adapted from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com

Yeild: About 3 Cups of Salsa
Prep: 5 Minutes
Total: 5 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh Sunset Valley Organics blueberries
1 cup diced Sunset strawberries
1 cup diced jicama
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper, stemmed and seeded
Juice of 1 large lime
Salt, to taste
Tortilla chips, for serving

 Directions:
 In a medium bowl, combine blueberries, strawberries, jicama, cilantro, red onion, jalapeno, and lime juice. Stir until well combined. Season with salt, to taste. Serve with tortilla chips at room temperature or chilled.

Note-this salsa is also great with grilled fish or chicken. It is best eaten the day it is made.

Tiramisu Mixed Berry Trifle from Driscoll's
Prep: 40 
Servings: 6
 Ingredients:

• 1 package (16 ounces) Sunset Valley Organics Strawberries
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 1 packages (8 ounce each) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1 packages (3 ounces) lady finger cookies
• 2 packages (6 ounces or 1 1/3 cups each) Sunset Valley Organics Raspberries
• 1 package (6 ounces or 1 1/3 cups each) Sunset Valley Organics Blackberries
• 1 package (6 ounces or 1 1/4 cups each) Sunset Valley Organics Blueberries

 Directions: 

1. Reserve 6 small strawberries for garnish. Hull and puree remaining strawberries in a blender until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds (you should have about 1 1/4 cups puree). Set aside. Whip heavy cream, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Place mascarpone in a large bowl and beat with a rubber spatula until smooth. Fold in whipped cream in three additions until evenly blended.
2. To assemble trifles: Reserve about 1/2 cup each raspberries, blackberries and blueberries for trifle topping.
3. Dip one-half lady fingers in strawberry puree until lightly soaked and layer on bottom of 6 serving glasses. Top each with an even layer of remaining blackberries and blueberries. Top each with layer of about 1/4 cup whipped cream mixture, spreading evenly. Top each with second layer of remaining lady fingers dipped in strawberry puree. Top each with even layer of remaining raspberries. Top each with even layer of remaining whipped cream mixture. Top each with even layer of reserved raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Garnish each serving with 1 reserved strawberry. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

4th of July Trifle from Fancy Frugal Life

Ingredients: 

• Pint of Sunset Valley Organics Strawberries
• Pint of Sunset Valley Organics Blueberries
• Loaf of Sara Lee Pound Cake (CUT IT LONG WAYS!)
• Star cookie cutter
• Whip Cream

Directions: 

1. Cut out stars from the pound cake with the cookie cutter.
2.  Arrange the Strawberries, Blueberries, Pound Cake, and Whip Cream to look pretty.
3. Refrigerate until serving or serve immediately.   

Machine Picking Raspberries

We recently started picking our raspberries. The berries that we sell fresh are all hand picked because raspberries are extremely fragile. We have chosen to machine pick our raspberries for our frozen market because it save us money, and is far more efficient than hand picking. We have four acres of raspberries this year with new plantings that will increase the size to 10 acres.

In order to be the most efficient we have taken our blueberry picker and altered it a bit. We use Littau Harvesters and are lucky enough to have two of them when harvesting our 70+ acres of blueberries. To alter our machines to pick raspberries we exchanged the shaker heads and put in ones that would be more gentle when shaking the raspberry vines.

The picker process goes something like this: The machine straddles the row and then gently shakes the vines causing the the raspberries to fall and be caught in cups that line the sides, and are carried to the top of the machine where they are dumped onto another conveyer belt, where they make their way into a bin that is divided into 12 slots like placing 12 pints together. Those flats are then stacked in the waiting area on the machine and transferred to a truck where they are then taken to our holding room to be processed.

Another aspect of the picking process is that we choose to pick during the night. Nights are far cooler than the day, this helps maintain the continuity of the berry,  and preserves it. Whereas if we were picking during the heat of the day the raspberries would become very mushy and would not a be a good quality product.

One of our machine pickers

Blueberry shaker heads

Top conveyer belt

Top conveyer belt from the side, you can see the cup on the right side.

Training Blackberries

A lot of us have blackberries around our yards, or see them around town and are either annoyed that they wont leave our yards alone or we have them delicious and fight with everyone else to pick them. Well we have a small patch planted, and we train them up to get the most out of the plants.

Blackberries are part of the rose family, and we all know how thorny they can be! Without any kind of training the blackberry plant can grow to be anywhere between 10 and 12 feet in height. The varieties we grow are less thorny or no thorns so when we have to handle the plants or harvest our employees dont have to worry about getting pricked.

The process of training the blackberries is rather a simple process, here is a short over view of what goes into us setting up the field:

 We start off by planting the blackberry plants in straight rows, then install wooden posts along the row of blackberries. We then take wires and run them from post to post all the way down the row, once the blackberry's vines are long enough we tie them in a circular motion. This saves room and allows for maximum fruit to bloom and develop, and we get a delicious large crop.  After the harvest the canes, or vines, that produced fruit will die, and new growth will take its place, so every year we have to train the canes and get them ready for the next year.

In our field we have divided it into two different sections, and are rotating the crop. This way the blackberry plants will have a year to grow, and we can still have a good harvest.

This training processes is used for more than just blackberries, it can also be applied to raspberries, marrionvberries  or any other vine, and cane berry.

End of U-Pick Blueberry Season

The season is finally coming to a close for our U-Pick Blueberries. This coming Saturday (August 25, 2012) will be the last day we are open with our farm stand. We will be switching to our Fall/Winter hours of Monday through Friday 10am to 4pm and by appointment. We still have fresh blackberries, and will have frozen blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries.

We had a great season and are excited for next years crop already! Keep a watch on our site this fall for new products becoming available! Or join our newsletter to stay informed.

Summer's Finally Heating Up!

Saturdays are always a busy day for us here on the farm. Today is no different. The U-Pick field is busy with people coming out of the field with huge gorgeous berries. We are still on the first pick of the field, and plan on doing a second, however those berries look to be just as large as the first pick, and it’s pretty amazing! Our U-Pick price is $2.65 per pound, and we are open from 8am to 6pm daily.

We have another berry that is just coming into season, blackberries that are plump and as large as my thumb! We have two sizes available at the farm stand and at the Corvallis Saturday Farmers Market which is one pound for $5.00 and five pounds for $18.00. This is the first weekend we are having them and we expect the season to go for at least three weeks. If you are wanting to get a lot we in courage you to place an order, or wait until we are mid season and have a lot more of a supply.

This weekend’s heat is sure to help ripen every crop, and we are anticipating the start of our frozen picking season to start this coming week. Which also means we are going to start packing this year’s crop in our frozen boxes, please call ahead to find out if we are indeed packing or if your wanting to pick up more than 2 boxes (30 pounds per box) at a time.

Have a great weekend everyone! Keep cool!

Beat The Heat

Summer is in full swing and bringing the heat, especially if your having a good time out doors, or doing some yard work. Here a couple of refreshing recipes for fruity drinks to cool off with.

Dazzling Raspberry Drink (from Betty Crocker)

Ingredients:

·         40 oz. of frozen raspberries, thawed & drained

·         1 can (6oz) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

·         1 bottle (2Liters) ginger ale, chilled

Directions:

·         In 4-quart Dutch oven, cook raspberries over medium heat 10 minutes, stirring frequently; cool slightly. Push through strainer with large spoon to remove seeds. Refrigerate raspberry juice at least 2 hours.

·         In large pitcher, mix raspberry juice and lemonade concentrate. Stir in ginger ale. Serve immediately over ice.

Refreshing Raspberry Drink (from food.com) Yield: 4 Glasses

Ingredients:

·         1 1/3 Cups Red Raspberries

·         3 Tablespoons Sugar

·         ½ cup lime juice

·         2-3 cups sparkling water (or sprite if you want it a bit sweeter)

Directions:

•          Place raspberries in a medium bowl
•          Add sugar and lime juice and mash with back of wooden spoon.
•         Let sit for about 10 minutes
•          Strain mixture through fine sieve to remove seeds and set aside.
•          Fill four large glasses with ice and pour ¼ cup raspberry mixture in each glass
•          Add ¾ cup sparkling water (or sprite)
•          Stir to combine
•          Top with ½ cup sparkling  water (or sprite)

Yum! Don’t these sound delicious!?