Wow, it seems to have come up quickly but here we are: October is upon us! With that change comes shorter days, cooler weather, preparing our orchards for the next growing season and getting ready for the holidays! (Holidays?! Did you just gasp? We couldn’t blame you if you did!)
As we look back on this year’s harvest we are feeling especially good about making the soil – and our planet – healthier. What we’re talking about here is our farming practices that go beyond organic practices, which are already great. We’re talking about regenerative organic farming. It’s a labor of love. For our family, for future generations and for our planet.
Regenerative organic farming is about actively healing the earth. It’s about giving back to the earth that has sustained us for so long. This planet of ours that has given of itself over centuries of farming is now being nurtured and renewed by farmers like us who are actively taking part in a very important movement to make it a healthier, more sustainable place where foods can be grown in a healthy environment for generations to come.
Our regenerative organic practices include increasing soil organic matter and renewing biodiversity through mulching tree trimmings and orchard waste right where they’re gathered. This mulching practice feeds valuable nutrients back into the soil, making it healthier with each season. Another big benefit of mulching is that it helps retain precious water in the soil. A 1% increase in organic matter will allow the soil to hold up to 20,000 more gallons of water per acre.
The weedy cover crops that you see growing in our orchards are also very intentional. These cover crops are part of building a healthy ecosystem, attracting beneficial insects that feed on crop damaging insects like aphid mites and leaf footed bugs. Cover crops also reduce carbon in the atmosphere by turning carbon dioxide into oxygen as they grow. I could go on for chapters but I will say just one more thing that excites me about cover crops. They put the food the plant needs most into the soil by taking nitrogen from the air and naturally putting it into the soil. Cover crops are just one of Mother Nature’s keys to unlocking a corp’s genetic potential which is only possible in an Organic and Regenerative system, void of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
Regenerative organic farming makes our communities healthier places for all of us to live. It’s about healing the earth, making our food supply healthier and uplifting the communities that do all the hard work in the fields.
At Bella Viva Orchards, implementing regenerative organic farming practices has been part of what we have been doing for a long time and we have found and aligned with ROC who shares our passion for improving the earth through farming and uplifting the communities that do all the hard work producing the crops. ROC certification helps us identify like-minded growers to share our passion for making the earth a healthier place. In fact, we partner with an ROC Almond grower just 15 minutes from us as well as farmers around the globe like our ROC Macadamia Nut Farmer in Africa, and our ROC Banana Farmer in Sri Lanka. There's more to come!
Even if you’re not a farmer, you can be part of the movement by consuming foods that are Regenerative Organic Certified. Together, our shopping dollars will do the talking and we are confident that over time, when we all shop ROC our food supply will be more responsibly-produced and these foods will become increasingly more affordable. Wouldn’t it be a perfect world if all of our foods were produced in an environment that actually reversed the wear and tear we have had on our earth!? We think so and we feel that most or all of you would agree.
To celebrate the noble, earth-loving practice of Regenerative Organic Certified farming and to celebrate YOU being an active part of making the world a better place to live, we are excited to share that we are holding our first (almost) all-ROC lineup of monthly web specials. That’s right, our fellow Prune tree huggers! From now through the end of October, we’re offering our Regenerative Organic Certified Dried Pitted Prunes for 25 percent off, or just $10.12 per pound and our Regenerative Organic Certified Almonds for a restorative 25 percent off, or just $14.99 per pound. The earth-loving savings don’t stop there, friends! Yep, you know there’s more to come… From now through the end of October, we’re offering our Regenerative Organic Dried White Nectarines and our Regenerative Organic Certified Dried Yellow Peach Slices for a nice 10 percent off and our Regenerative Organic Certified Macadamia Nuts (Raw), our Regenerative Organic Certified California Apricots, our Regenerative Organic Dried White Peaches and our Certified Organic Pecans (Shelled) for a crave-worthy 5 percent off.
Remember back to the beginning of this newsletter when we mentioned the holidays? No need to scroll back, we’ve got you… We are thrilled to share that next month, we will be rolling out an all-new product line, just in time for holiday gifting! It’s so exciting and great that we think you’ll want to add yourself to your holiday gift list! It’s so versatile that it’ll be a memorable and valuable item for birthdays, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Earth Day or any day or occasion! Right now, it’s a secret, but since you’re a loyal customer and reader, we wanted you to be among the first to know.
So friends, we don’t think you’ll need much encouragement to be an ROC enthusiast. Join the movement and share the good news with your family, friends and colleagues. You can be a superhero by helping save our planet. When the wind in your cape flies, reach around and pat yourself on the back. Best of health to you and our beloved earth!
