Month: March 2018

Convenience Eating Made Nutritious

Posted on March 27, 2018 by

Convenience more than ever plays a prominent role in food choices of today’s consumers. It determines where, when, why, what, and how you eat and prepare your meals, with two perceptions of convenience being related to both time and effort. The demand for convenience foods is at an all time high, especially with home delivery for groceries, meal kits and internet shopping. Here at Bishop’s Orchards we have added convenient traits to certain products marked healthy/beneficial, to compete with this demand, while staying fresh, local and true to our name.

Convenience foods don’t always have to mean take-out and prepared foods in the form of canned soups or quick-cook pasta and rice. Here at the farm market, we limit the amount of processed foods due to the amount of added artificial ingredients. Our Prepared Meals are made with fewer ingredients, with “real foods” on the list. These meals can be heated in the microwave or oven, with side dishes to accompany. Try our Grab N’ Go Crock Pot or Grill Meals, made with fresh ingredients here with everything you need in one bag! They feed a family of 4-5, with no gluten, vegan & vegetarian options available! In the near future, you will even have the option to order online. We will be offering a Webcart option, for ordering all your Bishop’s groceries, for pick-up right at the farm market, taking Grab N’ Go to a whole new level.

Despite the time and effort required for meal prepping, there still comes a sense of gratification when you “prepare” a meal. For this purpose, “Meal Prep Mondays,” or any day of the week, have become a huge success by providing a designated & convenient time set aside. Bishop’s can be your one-stop-shop for enough vegetables, fruit, meats & healthy carbs to plan individual meals or family servings. Everything from salad mixes and marinated, diced & potatoes, to stuffed chicken breast and side dishes. Plan ahead with batch cooking – making a meal in a large quantity that you can freeze in small portions. While you are portioning off, plan healthy snacks to have on hand at all times! Include no-sugar added yogurts, whole fruit, hummus packs with pretzels or veggies, etc. Store them in the fridge or pantry, creating a strategy with minimal time but long run success.

Remember, when thinking of convenience, always be conscious of keeping “healthy” a main factor, with Bishop’s Orchards Farm Market & Winery in mind as your sole provider.

Integrated Pest Management Process (IPM)

Posted on March 26, 2018 by

Every year we get asked about how we manage our pest problems, and honestly it’s a difficult question to answer. Not that we have reservations about telling anyone – in fact, we are quite proud of our pest management program.

There are two types of pest (and disease) control programs: Organic, and what people call “conventional”. Organic is fairly simple in that only organic based (derived from natural sources) products are used for disease, insect, and plant nutrition. For some reason many people feel Organic means unsprayed. But, in fact Organic crops frequently are sprayed more than Farms using non organic products.

pest management at bishop's orchardsI put parentheses around “conventional” because that is what not being Organic is referred to in the media. Conventional is a term that goes back to the 60’s and 70’s, when synthetic pesticides were new and used to describe a program of Orchard sanitation (kill everything). Basically, the conventional program evolved around the calendar, “It’s the first week of June so we spray.”

That type of program lost its steam when Orchard sanitation failed and people started to realize you need to work within the ecosystem of the farm to manage pest and disease issues. This was the beginning of a program called Integrated Pest Management or IPM – the type of program we follow today.

An IPM program follows a series of guidelines to help a farmer make sound, science based decisions on the actions taken to control pest or diseases. Any given decision is based on multiple factors, creating a complicated process. Factors include weather/environmental conditions, presence or lack of predator insects, establishment of a threat, and meeting threshold numbers for target insects. If a determination is made, a control is needed. Then we evaluate our control options to target whether or not the pest (or disease) is safe, minimally invasive, but can control the target to maintain numbers below an economic threshold. However, sometimes scouting and analysis might show no need to treat. The threshold numbers for control may not have been met, and the weather may not be advantageous for disease to take hold.

For our IPM program we utilize the University extension service to “scout” the Orchard weekly, helping with on site advice and informative research Emails. In addition, we do our own scouting to stay on top of what is going on in the Orchard. We also tract “degree hours”, insect stages, and tree stages which all give us information we use to make decisions.

For every crop we grow there are different Insects and diseases, and evaluations are different for each. It’s very complicated sometimes, but we have a very experienced staff that wants to preserve the longevity and legacy of Bishops Orchards. We do our best to assure the best and safest fruit we can provide our customers.

Featured Personality: Carrie Bishop Healy

Posted on March 26, 2018 by

Carrie Healy, part of the Bishop family’s sixth generation, always knew she wanted to come back into the family business, it was just a matter of time. Carrie started working at Bishop’s Orchards in high school doing various jobs – from cashier to managing the concessions trailer, she got an overall understanding of the family business at a young age. However, it is a family rule that in order for a family member to come back into the business, they have to do at least two years of business somewhere else, in a related field, to gain “real world” experience.

So, off Carrie went. First stop was college in the Boston area where she studied Accounting. She then worked for seven years in corporate Accounting and Auditing for two different companies. “I always wanted to come back into the business. Even in high school I knew someday I wanted to come back. After being in Boston and working those jobs, my husband and I wanted to start our family. Once we had our first daughter we decided it was a good time to move back to Guilford and join the family business.”

All her hard work in, and outside of the company paid off. Carrie was recently promoted from Accounting Manager to Chief Financial Officer. “With this new promotion I now deal with the administrative side of the business. Everything from financial information, books, HR, IT and the other administrative work we have – I oversee the strategic growth in all these areas.”

Working at Bishop’s is definitely more unique than being anywhere else, Carrie explains. “Going from Corporate America to this is definitely different, but it’s a nice family knit organization where you know everybody. You don’t have to have Bishop in your name to be treated like family and I think that’s a very important aspect of our business. We strive to treat everyone like our own and take care of each other – it’s a big piece of that for me, and that’s why I love it.”

As for the future of the company, Carrie says the biggest thing they strive for is that the business continues in the ever changing economy and food trend industry and they meet the wants and needs of the customers. “We always have to be on top of our game when it comes to what we offer to customers. We need to make sure we’re offering what our customers and community want in addition to figuring out what the niche markets enjoy so we can add experiences that aren’t already in the area. Our biggest thing is talking to our customers and seeing what they want and providing that to them through our business. We employ a lot of people in town which is important to us, and we want to make our employees and customers happy.”

What’s Trending: Cold Brew Coffee

Posted on March 12, 2018 by

Cold brew coffee is quickly starting to show up everywhere. From coffee houses, food trucks, grocery stores, you name it – it’s changing the way people buy their coffee in the morning. But a lot of us are wondering why. What makes it so different and why is it the new, must try item? Well the truth is there are some pretty significant benefits to drinking cold brew coffee over hot AND regular iced coffee, and there are reasons for its high demand. Wondering what those reasons are? Read on to find out!

How It’s Different. The process of making cold brew coffee only takes a few steps. First, steep ground coffee in room temperature water using a coffee filter. Overnight, store in a room temperature or colder setting, soaking for six to 12 hours or more. Cold brew coffee doesn’t go stale as quickly as hot brew, so you can make your coffee ahead of time and in bulk! Another thing you can do with the coffee is make your own ice cubes. After soaking, instead of pouring it over ice, turn it into ice by pouring it into ice cube trays and freezing.Once it melts, it will blend into the ratio of coffee.

cold brew coffee trend

Why It’s Better. Cold brew coffee is a completely different product than hot coffee. The first thing you will notice is its taste. It has a much sweeter taste than regular coffee because the cold water it’s steeped in, eliminates the bitter taste that is normally released. Coffee brewed cold is far less acidic because when hot water is involved it brings out the acid oils in the coffee beans. As a result, this makes it easier on your digestive system (especially if you’re someone with a sensitive stomach).

Where You Can Find It. If you’re going to a coffee shop to purchase your cold brew, make sure you do your research – not everyone has cold brew coffee yet. However, if you’re more of a planner and like to save some money, you can make it at home and keep it in the refrigerator. Another option is to stop by your local farm market and see if they carry any bottled cold brew coffee – the perfect option if you’re constantly on the go and like to buy in bulk.

If you’re interested in trying a cold brew coffee, we here at Bishop’s Orchards have bottled varieties in the refrigerated section (Califia Cold Brew in Signature, Single Origin, and Black Mocha Blend, and Califia Nitro Cold Brew in Latte and Mocha) – stop by today to pick some up and tell us what you think!