December 2016 Newsletter from SVO

News From Around the Farm

Happy December everyone! We've been so busy with the holiday season already and it's just starting! We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We would also like to thank everyone who participated in our Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday sales! It really means a lot that you shopped with us!

Featured products in our shop:

Dried Aronia Berries

Freeze Dried Blueberry Powder

Freeze Dried Blackberry Powder

Gift Boxes

Holiday Shipping: 

With the holidays coming up we would like to draw your attention to two important areas in the newsletter this month. The first being dates which we will be closed:

Our normal winter office hours are: Monday - Friday 10 am to 4 pm PST 

We will be closed:

• December 19th- January 1st

This means the last day we will be shipping holiday packages will be December 16th.

The second, Holiday shipping dates as suggested by USPS and FedEx:

USPS:

• First-Class Mail: Dec. 20th
• Priority Mail: Dec. 21st
• Priority Mail Express: Dec. 23rd
• USPS Retail Ground: Dec. 15th
• Destination Network Distribution Center Drop Ship: Dec. 19th
• Destination Delivery Unit Drop Ship Dec. 22

For more info about USPS shipping this holiday season check out their website. 

FedEx:

• Dec. 16: Last day to ship FedEx Ground
• Dec.  14: Last day to ship by FedEx Ground for Alaska & Hawaii
• Dec. 12: Last day to ship by FedEx Smart Post
• Dec. 23: Last day to ship by priority overnight  
• Dec 22: Last day for 2 Day shipping; $16 charge for Saturday delivery

For more details about FedEx holiday schedule check out their website. 

Above is a sample of what we offered during the November Insta Sale.

Cold Weather Shipping 

We will be able to bring back our Cold Weather Shipping special sometime in October. 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 usMonday through Friday 10 am to 4 pm Pacific.

Holiday Gift Boxes:

The Holidays are coming! It’s weird that it is already that time of the year again, right? We have gift boxes! If you want a gift box, but don’t see anything you like on our site, give us a call, we are more than happy to do custom gift boxes! If your thinking about ordering a bunch of them please keep in mind that if you want us to ship them to multiple address the order does NOT qualify for free shipping if it goes over $225.00. But if we ship it all to one address then it can qualify for free shipping, as long it’s more than $225.00. We are also offering if you buy 10 gift boxes you get one free (excludes shipping). Our gift boxes are great for birthdays, house warming’s, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Years. Basically anytime you need a present or a nice gesture, we’ve got you covered.

Holiday Gift Fair

We will be at the Holiday Gift Fair this year, hosted by Home Grown Gardens, December 3rd and 4th. The fair will be open from 10 am to 5 pm each day. We will have our gift boxes there, and remember if you buy 10 then you get one free! 

Home Grown Gardens is located: 4845 SE 3rd St, Corvallis, OR 97333 

We will have an event added to our Facebook page with all the details. 

Finished Superfood Chocolate Bark

Superfood Chocolate Bark

An indulgent yet healthy Christmas treat of dark chocolate bark topped with goji berries, dried blueberries, dried aronia berries, almonds, pistachios and coconut

INGREDIENTS

• 200g dark chocolate
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp pistachios (shelled and halved)
• 2 tbsp goji berries
• 1 tbsp desiccated coconut
• 2 tbsp sliced almonds
• 2 tbsp dried blueberries
• 2 tbsp dried aronia berries

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Line a dish with baking parchment. I used an 8x8in dish but you can use a smaller or bigger one depending on how thick or thin you want your bark to be.
2. Sit a heat proof bowl in a pan of boiling water over a medium heat. Break the chocolate into small pieces, add to the bowl and stir continuously until it has all melted. Add the vanilla and mix well.
3. Pour the melted chocolate into the parchment lined dish. Top with the pistachios, goji berries, dried blueberries, sliced almonds, dried aronia berries and coconut.
4. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes or until the chocolate has set.
5. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.

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

Delicious Snacks for Back to School

Back to school is such an exciting time of the year, but with school comes early mornings which some may not enjoy when they have come a custom to sleeping later. We have gathered up some yummy and creative ways to have fun when it comes to snacks, treats, and meals. 

 1) An Animal Snack Attack from sugarpop.com
There are 17 awesome works of art that are easy to create at home, while we can show you all 17 here are a few of our favorites. The only down side to these wonderful images is there are no recipes to go off of, however everything seems to be able to be recreated from just looking at the images. Have fun making these delicious treats!

2) Blueberry Pancakes from Baker by Nature
We might be a bit bias on this one, but blueberry pancakes are a great way to start the day! 

Ingredients:

• *Makes about 14 pancakes
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• 3 tablespoons whole milk
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 4 tablespoons butter, for the pan
• Maple syrup, for serving

Directions:

1. In a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, sour cream, milk, sugar, salt, vanilla, and baking powder.
2. In a separate large bowl add flour and blueberries and toss to combine, making sure berries are fully coated in the flour.
3. Add flour mixture to the wet milk mixture, and stir just to combine; do not over mix! The batter will be thick, so don't worry if there's a lot of clumps left.
4. Add egg whites to a large bowl or the body of a stand mixer. Beat using a handheld mixer or the whisk attachment until the whites begin to form soft peaks.
5. With a rubber spatula fold egg whites into flour/cheese mixture, stirring until fully incorporated.
6. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
7. Ladle 1/3 cup scoops of the batter into the skillet, only cooking a few at a time so they don't blend together.
8. Cook pancakes until the edges begin to brown and the top of the batter bubbles, then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Repeat for all pancake batter.
9. Top pancakes with syrup and extra blueberries, or anything else your heart desires! Serve at once.

3) Homemade Goldfish Crackers

Sure you can buy them at the store, but if you make them at home, you can make them organic, and healthier. Adapted from food4tots

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (120g) plain flour.As an alternative you can use 1/4 cup plain flour, and 3/4 cup coconut flour (or even certified organic flour or certified organic coconut flour).
• 8oz (220g) sharp/extra sharp certified organic cheddar cheese, shredded.
• 60g cold butter cut into cubes
• 1/4-1/2 teaspooon sea salt
• 2 tbs cold water

Directions:

1. Using a pastry blender, cut butter into the flour until it forms coarse crumbs.
2. Add sea salt to mixture.
3. Add shredded cheese and cut into the mixture.
4. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
5. use hand to form dough and divide into 2 portions. Wrap them in plastic and chill for 20 minutes (or longer).
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking trays with parchment paper. 
7. Take out one portion of the dough from the fridge. Work with one portion at a time. Place dough in between two sheets of wax paper or cling wrap. Roll dough out to 3mm (1/8 in) thickness. Cut out shapes with your choice of cookie cutters and transfer to baking tray. 
8. Use chopstick or toothpick to make the eye balls, and the prong of a for to carve a curvy lip. (this step is optional)
9. Gather all the trimmings and re-roll. Repeat until all the dough is used up. 
10. Bake or approximately 15-17 minutes, until the crackers are crispy and golden around edges. Timing will vary according to size and shape of your crackers. Cool for 10 minutes on baking tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Sore in an airtight container. 

Notes: 

1. You can substitute it with 50-100% whole wheat flour.
2. Shred the cheese finer than what is shown in the photo so that you can easily cut them into the mixture.
3. Get orange cheese if you can.
4. If you have food processor, pulse everything (except water) together until the dough resembles coarse sand. Then follow with step 4.
5. Thinner dough means crispier crackers; thicker dough means puffier, more bread-like crackers. But, the dough must not be too thin or else the crackers will be difficult to handle.
6. Crackers will turn soft pretty fast even they are kept inside an airtight container. Best to be eaten immediately or within a day or two. To extend them for a week or so, I keep them in the fridge. Lightly warm them up in the toaster oven when I want to eat them.

U-Pick is Closed, Thanks for A Great Season!

On Saturday, August 12, 2013 we closed our U-Pick field until next season. We had a really great season with more turn out than in years past. It's great to see how many people in our community care about the food they are putting into their bodies. This year we had people not only from Corvallis, Eugene, and Albany but also from Salem, Portland, Newport, Sea Side, Yahats, Florance. It even went as far as California and Washington, it was just simply amazing the stretches people are willing to travel to come see us and pick our berries.

We opened our U-Pick in 1998, that year we were lucky if we had even one U-Picker a day. In 2006 we became certified organic and our new company name was born (Sunset Valley Organics). By then we were having more U-Pickers but it still wasn't really all that impressive. This year we were really busy everyday, and sometimes couldn't keep us with all the people that wanted to pick. We are so grateful and thankful that the community realizes how wonderful our berries are, and we are working hard to make not only the berries more nutient dense but also to give back to the earth and take care of our soil.

So thanks for supporting our business, we really appreciate it!

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.

Health Benefits of Blueberries - Nutrition and more Nutrition

Recent studies show that of all fresh fruits and blueberries provide the most health-protecting antioxidants. Blueberries are rich in Vitamins A, C, E and beta-carotene as well as rich in the minerals potassium, manganese, magnesium. They are very high in fiber and low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.

Sunset Valley Organics Blueberries are even more nutritious than most. Independent testing shows that our berries have double the Vitamin A and C, and more Calcium and minerals than other organic berries and wild blueberries.

The properties of blueberries cross the blood brain barrier to effect these benefits. Antioxidants help to stop the production of free radicals. Free radicals are groups of atoms that impair the cells and the immune system which leads to disease. Anti-oxidants bind the the free electrons in free radicals.

Anthocyanins create the blue color in blueberries. They are water-soluble and will bleed into water (or on mouths and clothes). Anthocyanins are antioxidants, known to reduce heart disease and cancer in humans. They are found throughout the plant world, but blueberries are the highest of any fruit or vegetable. This substance is believed to combat E. Coli.

Chlorogenic acid is another antioxidant which may also slow the release of glucose into the bloodstream after a meal. Chlorogenic acid's antioxidant properties may help fight damaging free radicals.

Ellagic acid also appears to bind cancer-causing body chemicals,rendering them inactive.

Catechins are the phytochemical compounds that helped make a nutritional star out of green tea which is so rich in them. Current belief holds that their antioxidant effect diminishes the formation of plaque in the arteries. Further research is being done to see if they combat and/or suppress cancerous tumors and cell proliferation, but to date no evidence is solid.

Resveratrol is a substance that is produced by several plants. A number of beneficial health effects, such as anti-cancer, anti-viral, neuroprotective, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and life-prolonging effects have been reported for this substance. It is found in the skin of red grapes.

Pterostilbene is yet another antioxidant found in blueberries. Current belief holds that it may fight cancer and may also help lower cholesterol.

World's Healthiest Foods: Blueberries

What could be better for you than blueberries? Gotta love em.

Blueberries are nutritional stars bursting with nutrition and flavor while being very low in calories. Blueberries are at their best from May through October when they are in season.

This chart graphically details the %DV that a serving of Blueberries provides for each of the nutrients of which it is a good, very good, or excellent source according to our Food Rating System. Additional information about the amount of these nutrients provided by Blueberries can be found in the Food Rating System Chart. A link that takes you to the In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Blueberries, featuring information over 80 nutrients, can be found under the Food Rating System Chart.

• Health Benefits
• Description
• History
• How to Select and Store
• How to Enjoy
• Individual Concerns
• Nutritional Profile
• References

Health Benefits

Blueberries are literally bursting with nutrients and flavor, yet very low in calories. Recently, researchers at Tufts University analyzed 60 fruits and vegetables for their antioxidant capability. Blueberries came out on top, rating highest in their capacity to destroy free radicals.

see the whole article.



http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=8

Natural Purple Pigments In Fruits, Vegetables And Berries, Such As Blueberries, May Help Prevent Obesity

Natural Purple Pigments In Fruits, Vegetables And Berries, Such As Blueberries, May Help Prevent Obesity

ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2008) — Scientists in Arkansas are reporting new evidence that natural pigments responsible for the beautiful blue/purple/reddish color of certain fruits and vegetables may help prevent obesity. Their animal study however, reports that eating the whole fruit containing these pigments seems to be less effective than eating an extract of the berry.

Read the whole article at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080211091354.htm#