Tag Archives: AroniaBerry

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Almost Time, BUT no Aronia Berry Harvest…

Normally at this time of year we would be working with harvesters, hustling to find a refrigerated truck, pallets, and enough totes to hold all the harvest. This year there’s no competition with the Iowa State Fair’s need for refrigeration trucks because of COVID.

Because of the early spring cold weather and snow, the berries all fell off. We were crushed. Farming is like a roller coaster, highs and lows. Truly a low this year.

I’ve had folks call recently getting ready to come pick their own berries. Since there are none, we are offering them frozen berries. We have lots of those, so if you’re looking for Aronia Berries for your morning smoothies or berries to make wonderful jams, or to bake, we have you covered.

We’ve also sent bulk berries to folks interested in juicing their own berries. Oh the healthy possibilities!

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Meet the Fogle’s in the Field

IMG_9765_smallIMG_9846_smallA few weeks ago when the Aronia berries were in full bloom, we decided to have a family photo taken.  Our family has grown, as have the berries, since we first began blogging about our Aronia plantation.

Those three little beauties in the top picture love to help Grandpa and Grandma.  Anytime they hear that mower turn on, the oldest ones know it’s time for a ride.  Sometimes we even hitch up a utility trailer and go for “wagon rides”.  The beautiful blonde was pictured helping plant berries when she was a toddler.  Now she’s nearing 7 and can explain all about Aronia berries.  The middle one would just as soon have a handful of purple and a stained face about harvest time.  She loves eating right off the bush, as does Abe, our Rottweiler.  Aggie, his little sidekick, hasn’t had the chance to enjoy Aronia except in dog treats.   Abe and Aggie are our “critter control”.  The whole family has helped plant berries and we rely on our son’s horticulture degree and farming experience for advice and muscle from time to time.

We recall the days spent planting those little 4″ twigs and wishing and wondering how they’d grow.  Now look at the beautiful bushes over 6′ tall in some areas.  As you walk between the rows, it’s like being in another place.  They are truly a beautiful addition to our property.  We wish you could have seen the beautiful flowers and smelled the aroma of Aronia in bloom along with us that evening.   Now we tend, wait, and watch for late August and a bumper crop of berries.

 

 

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A Little Bit About What I Do In My Spare Time…

Okay, I have to add this…you’ll see why if you get to the third paragraph.  Unfortunately we weren’t able to attend.  (It was the same week as Woody’s heart procedure, but we were there in thought.)

Midwest Aronia Association 5th Annual Conference

“Let’s Get Growing” Moline, Illinois  March 21, 2015

Midwest Aronia Association held their 2015 conference in Moline, Illinois, March 19-21. This annual Midwest event is the largest gathering of Aronia growers in the nation, drawing speakers and attendees from across the United States, as well as internationally, to network, learn and share information about the Super Fruit, Aronia berry.  Aronia has been introduced in recent years as a value-added sustainably grown crop, and researchers continue to discover the numerous health benefits of the dark purple berry.

The Midwest Aronia Association is a non-profit group whose focus is education concerning Aronia. Main goals include assisting growers, and re-establishing Aronia as a healthy staple in modern diets by introducing Aronia berries to consumers. With grower-members throughout the United States and Canada, there is growing focus on local and regional marketability as well as expanding domestic market growth and development of the Aronia industry.

With approximately 150 attendees, events included management practices; marketing and business development; labeling, processing and Regional Chapter development. The conference opened with a well-received Recipe Contest for which participants contributed an Aronia-based food and recipe for judging and eventual inclusion in an Aronia Cookbook with a Harvest Season 2015 targeted publication date.  Additional Aronia recipes will be accepted throughout April.  Other topics included site preparation, harvesting, soil nutrition and cultural management, storm and pest damage mitigation, irrigation, crop insurance, processing, product development and marketing.  The Aronia Promoter of the Year award was given to Peggy Fogle for her tireless efforts in organizing and staffing the successful Iowa State Fair MAA booth and other volunteer activities.  Dr. Terry Wahls whose research on nutrition in the study of traumatic brain injury and Multiple Sclerosis delivered the keynote address after the annual banquet.

The MAA annual business meeting and board member elections were held during the conference. 10 officers/committee chairs were retained or elected to the board. For more information about Aronia and the MAA, please visit www.midwestaronia.org

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Pruning, Cussing, and Praising

Pruning, Cussing, and Praising

Odd title?  You wouldn’t think so if you joined us the last few weeks in the field.  You see after the 17-year Cicada damage we suffered in June 2014, you’d understand.  Pruning is best done in December-March so the cuts can callous and harden off.  On some of the warmer days we have been out cutting back bushes. It’s a cold, snowy field and the footing is a little slippery.  Secondly, you have to bend down and inspect each branch and remember we have nearly 5,000 bushes, so it seems like it takes forever.  We’re still not done, but we’ll get there a little at a time as the backs can handle it.

I say cussing because It makes you physically feel sick to cut off so much of some of the plants and know how you are cutting down on your yield for the upcoming year.   You have that to deal with emotionally.  I keep telling myself those damned Cicadas layed the eggs in the little branches and weakened the bushes now to the point that they will not support the weight of all the berries they will be having now and in the future.  If the damage isn’t cut out now, they will suffer later.  So I cut and cuss.

At the same time, I praise the quiet time alone in the woods and in the field.   I am so thankful we are where we are and we have a hardy bush that will survive, thrive and be so strong and large in 17 years, the next Cicadas will not be able to damage them this way ever again.  Thus, the life of a farmer.

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Aronia beats Blueberry

I keep watching the berries and hoping for warmer weather!  I guess it’s Spring Fever.

As we’re watching and waiting for the weather to improve, we’re studying and looking further into the health benefits of our little purple berries.  I recently located another excellent article about these little gems.  I was amazed at this report showing blueberries having about a third the ORAC value of the aronia berries!  I knew they were high on the anti-oxidant scale, but this is just reassuring.  Oh the benefits, I can’t wait for our first crop.

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So What Are They?

One question we continually get asked when we tell people we’ve planted aronia berries is – what are they? It’s true, they’re not very common, yet. You don’t see them on the store shelves but once you do your homework, you’ll see why we’ve been interested.

They are very high anti-oxidant berries. Hardy little plants that grow to maturity and are relatively low maintenance. They are not terribly time sensitive when it comes to harvest time, unlike grapes. They are raised organically, which is extremely important to us with all my sensitivities. They are native to cold areas and will thrive in challenging soils. Boy, are we a testament to that.

This link provides more information on the berries: http://www.aroniaberry.org/