Tag Archives: Peggy Fogle

food, health, health & fitness, wellness, organic, food as medicine,, organic

Strawberry aronia goodness

The cooler weather is settling upon us in central Iowa, snow is even predicted. So what to do on a cool Sunday afternoon, cook! I wish you could smell our house today. The simmering strawberries and aronia berries release a fresh, sweet, comforting fragrance that makes your mouth water. I’m creating Strawberry/Aronia Fruit Spread. I will have it available at the Holiday Showcase in Carlisle next Saturday. I always have some on hand to share with friends and it makes a great gift. Pure goodness in a half pint for $5.

Leave a comment if you’d like to purchase yours.

food, health, organic

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

I have been remiss in adding to the blog this spring. We’ve been so busy catching up with things we didn’t get done last year due to health reasons, I’m running way behind!

The berries have lots of beautiful little berries. Even the bushes that we trimmed back too 8″ a year ago in March are loaded with berries and are about five foot tall. It’s amazing to us how resilient the Aronia berries are.

In my spare time I’ve been making Aronia Cayenne Sauce and Strawberry Aronia Fruit Spread. Two of our favorite ways to share the Aronia goodness with others. I plan to take the Fruit Spread and Aronia Cayenne Sauce to the What Cheer Flea Market this weekend. Yet another attempt to educate folks on the wonderful benefits and flavors of Aronia!

food, health, organic

Almost Harvest Time

The summer is winding down, the Iowa State Fair begins this week, and before you know it school will be starting.   Must mean Aronia berry harvest is right around the corner.   The fields have gone from barren, to beautiful white blooms, to being filled with almost black berries now.  We’re taste testing and using the refractometer to know when the flavor is at its peak of perfection and nutrition.

Here at our farm, and at farms across Iowa, many Aronia growers will be hosting folks to pick their own berries this year.  Why should you?   If you look back through some of these posts, you will see many, many reasons to stock your freezer with these healthy little gems.   The studies are proving their benefits in so many health issues.

We eat them in so many ways.  The other night for example we had them in salad, salad dressing, and in a sauce to be used on the pork chops.  Why?  Of course they’re free here and we have them all year round, but let me tell you what happened when my husband went to the pain specialist recently.   Yes he has osteoarthritis terribly from several orthopedic surgeries (he should almost be bionic by now), but the pain doctor said for his age (82) he’s in really good shape compared to many and looked good.  Her question was why.  He said we’d been eating the Aronia berries for about the last 8 years.  She was going to get some.  It was proof enough for her.   He recently had blood work done again.  His results are always really good.  We know why.

This little lady is one of the other reasons why…

So watch here for times and dates to pick your own.   Spend a little time in nature, plan to bring the family, stock the freezer, we’ll teach you how to use them.  We’ll all be glad you did!

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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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What a Summer!

We had such high hopes for our crop this year and were so excited for the changes we were making to our farm.  Yet another lesson in patience.

We ordered our Weed Badger in early April and hoped to be ready to till around the plants in May.  I should never have trusted and sold the little riding mower that went between the small plants.  The weed badger showed up last week!  But it is going to be awesome.  We need some practice with it, but it will do the job, we’re just set back a year.

On June 17th while mowing we noticed all kinds of damaged to the berry bushes.  We couldn’t decide if the heavy winds the night before had damaged our plants or just what had happened.  Turns out it was the 17-year cicada emergence.  They really did a number on us.  The females bury their eggs into the small stems of plants.  Well our place is very wooded and was 17 years ago too, so we had a terrible infestation.  It was like walking on crunchy shells everywhere in our fields.  Turns out they were a problem.  We had lots of branches die and many more erupted and weakened so they did not support all the berry production.  Our crop suffered dramatically and probably will next year too.  We’re thankful it’s only every 17 years!

Cicada Damaged Bush
Cicada Damaged Bush

Cicada Damaged Branch
Cicada Damaged Branch

June 16th our Horizon Building arrived after a LOT of dirt work that was done, thanks to our son.   The wonderful Amish crew had the building up in a week, mostly.  It rained and rained all summer and the inside was muddy, our granddaughter loved mud stomping inside!  The floor was finally poured (in the rain) August 27th.  But we have a place to put all the equipment for winter storage and it’s wonderful.

Mudstomping Inside the Building
Mudstomping Inside the Building

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Through all the rain, weeds, and cicada damage, we’ve been so impressed at how hardy these plants are.  Plants we put in the ground two years ago have really thrived despite the conditions they had to deal with this year.  That field was neglected this summer with all the rain and the lack of a good way to mow between the plants and the cicada damage as well, but they look really good.

We keep believing the plants will be able to produce a nice crop for us.  We have had friends with excellent yields.  Meanwhile, we keep finding new ways to enjoy them.

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Chocolate Chip Aronia Berry Cookies

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 2 cups sugar (1 brown and 1 white works too)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla
  • 5 cups flour (I usually use 2 c whole wheat and 3 unbleached white)
  • 1 Tbsp baking soda
  • 1 cup aronia berries
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Mix butter, shortening and sugars.  Add eggs, vanilla and soda.  Mix in the flour.  Add the berries and chocolate chips.  Berries may be fresh or frozen and will tend to turn the cookies a swirly purple when mixed.   Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

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We’re Not Dead Yet

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We're Not Dead Yet

Woody’s motto has always been if you’re not changing, you’re dying. So this is evidence we’re still kicking! This long winter has been preparation for organic certification, tractor and weed badger purchasing, and storage building preparation. You are looking at the future site of our new Horizon building. We had to move over 400 landscape blocks in preparation for the dirt work to begin and get some professional help to determine just where to place the building, but we’re nearly ready.

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More Excited Than Ever!

Woody and I recently returned from the 2014 Midwest Aronia Association Conference.  We were thrilled to meet other growers of this super fruit and learn more about its cultivation and potential.

We know we are on the right path when we heard business folks and physicians talk about the health potential of these powerful purple super berries.

Understanding Antioxidants & ORAC values

The Aroniaberry contains a powerful natural blend of polyphenolic antioxidants. Antioxidants are important because they combat free radicals in our body that are created from daily living, stress, environmental pollution, medical x-rays and even exercise. Free radicals can damage cells which can lead to health and wellness related issues. Consuming foods high in antioxidants like the Aroniaberry may help support the body’s defense against these radicals.

Antioxidant levels in foods are measured by a test called ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity ).  Scientists have found that antioxidants increase our bodies natural defense systems. The higher the ORAC, the higher the antioxidant activity. (Wu, Beecher et al. 2004) The graph shows the ORAC levels (expressed as µmol Trolox Equivalents per 100 g fresh fruit of a variety of different fruits, including Aroniaberries. USDA 2010).

We all know how they have promoted blueberries and how good they are for you.  Well, our little berries score almost twice as good on the ORAC scale.  It’s exciting…the big challenge is educating people that aronia berries are becoming available, how healthy they are, and how to use them.  Because for those of you who have tried them, they aren’t as sweet as a blueberry or strawberry, they have a little more of the tart tannin flavor.  But they can be wonderful too.  Check out some of the recipes and look for food products at Hy-Vee.

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Aronia Recipies

We are asked quite often, especially now that we have berries, “What do you do with them?”  

Some of our favorite things are: 

Banana Aronia Bread

1 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Shortening

2 Eggs 

1/2 Cup Aronia Berries

2 Cups Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

4 Mashed Bananas

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix ingredients together.  Bake in greased loaf pan (or make into muffins).  Bread bakes 1 hour at 325.

We even have a special “granddaughter” who won a blue ribbon with this recipie at the Warren County Fair.  

 

Oatmeal Aronia Drop Cookies

 2 Cups Oatmeal

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 Cup melted shortening

1 Cup Aronia Berries 

1 tsp Baking Soda dissolved in 4 Tbsp Milk

2 Eggs

Mix dry ingredients.  To the dry ingredients add the shortening, eggs, and soda/milk mixture.  Mix well.  Fold in berries.  Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe makes dark kind of ugly cookies but wow they taste extraordinary, our son loves them!

 

All Fruit Smoothie

1/4 Cup Orange Juice

1 Cup Peaches, Drained

2 Medium Bananas, in chunks

1/2 Cup Frozen Aronia Berries

Put ingredients in a blender in this order. Blend until the drink is smooth.  Delicious!

 

Also try adding to your salads, favorite smoothies, vinaigrette dressings, pancakes, marinades, BBQs, soups, lemonade, ice tea, or make a syrupy icing and use over cakes.   Be creative, there are many uses for this healthy, versatile little purple gem.

 

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Berries, Berries, Berries

In 2012 the late spring frost diminished what we thought we might harvest.  In 2013, we have more berries and look forward to the berry production increasing every year.  We have about 5,000 plants now which have been planted over the past 3-4 years.  We currently have around 200 plants that may produce this year.   Each plant has been raised organically, as is our yard, because of my sensitivities.   We will be organic certified next season.

We are excited to share some of the photos of the plants this year and the changes from the archived photos to these current ones.  If you go back through the blog you will notice the same trees in the background, just the plants are bigger.  It is our way of scrapbooking the growth of the plants.  I’ve also included a photo of the spring-flowering bush, the flowers were in full bloom the weekend of May 17th, it was quite a sight.  We were filled with anticipation.