Happy National Cookie Day!

Who doesn't love cookies? 

We definitely do, but where cookies even came from? Or who makes up all these random holidays? Well, we looked it up! (Thanks, Google!)

 Turns out the English word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word "koekie" which means little cake.  There have been cookie-like wafers in existence for as long as baking has been documented, their ability to travel well made the quite popular, however, they weren't nearly as sweet as the common cookie. The origin of the cookie seems to be in Persia in the 7th century, soon after the use of sugar became popular in the region. After that, they spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. Cookies were common at all levels of society throughout Europe by the 14th century, from the royal cuisine to the street vendors. Cookies arrived in America in the 17th century. Macaroons and gingerbread cookies were among the popular early American cookies.

In 1976, Sesame Street included National Cookie Day on its calendar for the first time on November 26. The Cookie Monster also proclaimed his own National Cookie Day in the 1980 book The Sesame Street Dictionary. Then in 1987, Matt Nader of the Blue Chip Cookie Company out of San Francisco created Cookie Day celebrating it on December 4.

So, how can you celebrate National Cookie Day, and still eat healthily? Our Clean Eating Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies are a great option! 

Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are soft and extra chewy! Our dried blueberries add a bright and sweet burst, while the warm cinnamon and oats provide a comforting backdrop. They'll stay soft for up to a week if stored in an airtight container.

Yields About 15 Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Cup instant oats
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 large egg, room temp.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 Cup honey
1/4 Cup Sunset Valley Organics' Dried Blueberries

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the honey until thoroughly incorporated. Add the flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Fold in the blueberries. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. (If chilling longer, cover with plastic wrap, ensuring it touches the entire surface of the cookie dough.)

2. Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

3. Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops on the baking sheet. (If chilled longer than 1.5 hours, flatten each slightly.) Bake at 325°F for 13-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Happy National Cookie Day! 

Newsletter for November 2015

Happy November! 

Happy November everyone! Wow fall is moving so fast this year! In Oregon where we are, we actually just started to have rain and to feel like it is truly an Oregon Fall. Our blueberries bushes are mostly red now, there is still a bit of green on some of the plants. Did you know different varieties of blueberries turn colors at different times? For us our Duke Blueberry plants turn first, and our Jersey Blueberry plants are the last to fully be red. They also vary in tone of red, Blue Crop Blueberries like to be more of this deep red, and Jersey Blueberries are more orange red.

News From Around the Farm

We have finished putting our blueberry plantings to bed for the fall and winter, and have been working really hard in the raspberries and blackberries tying up the canes and getting the plants ready for next year.

So I know we have been talking about our freeze dried powder, and our freeze drier. Well I sort of have good news. (Just bear with me here guys…) We still have a broken freeze drier, and we are still at that 90% mark. The good news is we have found a company that we can work with to make some blueberry powder for us. We will only have blueberry powder for a while. So it’s better than nothing.  When we have blueberry freeze dried powder available we will be posting on our blog, Facebook, and Twitter. As well as of course having it available in our online store. 

Cold Weather Shipping is Back!

We know a lot of you guys have been waiting for our cold weather shipping to come back. 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, PST). 

Winter + Holiday Office Hours

Our office hours right now are Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm PST.

Our office will be closed for Thanksgiving: November 26, 2015 and November 27, 2015.

Our office will also be closed from December 21, 2015 to January 4, 2016. 

Website Changes on The Horizon

We are going to be making changes to our website, so if you see something wonky, or weird. Please have patience as we will be improving and changing it over the next few months. Our goal is that in 2016 we will have a brand new site, that is educational, and user friendly.

Savings for this month:

We don’t have any coupons this month but there are a couple of different ways for you to save.

1.     We still have an ad in the Pet Press magazine, to use it just bring it in when you visit us at our farm. (There is no code, not valid for online & phone purchases)

2.     We are starting to send out Holiday flyers in orders, so if you buy from us you can receive a coupon that way.

3.     We have gift boxes that make great gifts for this time of year. They also make for a great sampler if you want to try any of our products. Click here to see our gift box section in our online store.

Social Butterflies!

We now have an active Instagram account. You can follow us@SVOrganics . On our Instagram you can see more details about anything that is happening around the farm. Check out our Pinterest board this month! We are adding to our Healthy Thanksgiving board and we are also always adding to our Blueberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry Inspired boards, as well as Harmonious Berry Blends. 

Our Blog theme is follows along the lines of healthy thanksgiving but focused on being  diabetic friendly, every weekend you can find healthy alternative for goodies and treats for this Thanksgiving.

Winter Ground Shipping Now Available!

We are pleased to announce we are now able to offer ground shipping for our frozen shipments. 

If your interested in this method rather than by 2-day air that is standard on our website please call us at 541-752-0460 (Monday-Friday, 10 am to 4pm PST) for a quote. 

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.

Blueberry Pruning How To

Ever wonder why the blueberry plants in your back yard aren't doing as great as the ones you see at Wilt Farms? Well this should help improve that. We are going to reveal some top secret information as to what we do for pruning our blueberries. 

With moderate pruning of high bush blueberries (this would be the type of bush you see at farms and in your backyard) that is done every year in the late fall or winter, you can increase the constancy of production, and performance of the bush or quality of fruit 

Pruning should happen when the bush is doormat (December – March), for us we start pruning our 70 acres late December to early January. When pruning be sure to remove low growth, cut off short, soft shoots that develop at the base of the plant late in the season. Take off canes and twigs damaged by the winter, diseased or insect damaged. Cut off unproductive canes: those that haven't produced much new growth in at least one year. 

When pruning keep in mind that you want to let light down into the center of the plant. Completely clean the center of the plant. This will let the light in and help promote new growth for the next year.

Many times we prune up to 50% of the fruit buds. Why you ask? We want larger fruit. You can prune less and have smaller fruit and less growth for the following year or have larger fruit and more growth for the next year.

The downfall of pruning too lightly or not pruning them at all can result in the bushes having weaker, twiggy growth, as well as smaller fruit or to the point that fruit is non-existent.