Looking for fresh holiday decorating ideas? We’ve got ‘em! Right now, our country store is festooned with fragrant and colorful decorations featuring our Dried Fruits and you can bring them into your own home with these easy DIY orchard-to-home decorations and potpourris. Let’s get started! Make a Bella Viva Orchards Evergreen-Citrus Wreath for indoors or out with a store-bought wreath and just a few supplies! It’s beautiful and so fragrant. Continue the theme with this fresh and natural Bella Viva Orchards Citrus Garland. Make it as long or as short as you want. So go ahead, stock up on Dried Oranges and Lemons and

Supplies (for one 6-foot garland): 24 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Orange Slices24 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Lemon Slices24 dried bay leaves12 cinnamon sticksSoft jute twine (from craft store or hardware store)Large upholsterer’s needle (large enough to fit the twine through the eye)Scissors Steps: 1.    Cut jute twine into an 10-foot length. Thread one end of twine through the needle. 2.    Thread one Dried Orange Slice, one Dried Lemon Slice and 3 bay leaves onto the twine. Push to the end until you have one foot of twine remaining. Tie a knot to secure the first Dried Orange slice to the twine and

The wreath we picked up had some pine cones and faux red berry stems already attached, which is a plus! You’ll need: Supplies (for one wreath): 1 store-bought fresh evergreen wreath6 pine cones (if not on purchased wreath)12 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Orange Slices15 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Lemon Slices15 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Tart Apple Rings8 cinnamon sticks4 faux red berry stems (available at your local craft store)1 ¾ yards of 2 ½-inch wide wire-edge ribbon1 natural-themed Christmas ornament (we used felt reindeer)Soft jute twine (from craft store or hardware store)Florist’s wireWire snippersScissors Steps: 1.    Using wire snippers, cut florist’s wire into

Supplies (for a dozen ornaments): Soft jute twine (from craft store or hardware store)9 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Orange Slices9 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Lemon Slices9 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Tart Apple Rings9 Bella Viva Orchards Dried Honeycrisp Apple SlicesOrnament hangers (from craft store) Steps: 1.    Cut twine into twelve 10-inch lengths. 2.    Using one 10-inch twine length, thread three Dried Orange Slices and tie twine into a bow. Repeat until you have three sets of oranges. Then thread three Dried Lemon Slices on 10-inch twine lengths until you have three sets. Continue by threading three Dried Tart Apple Rings on 10-inch

Transform the heavenly aroma of our country store to your home for the holidays. It’s easy to mix up a batch of dry or simmering Bella Viva Potpourris to fill your home with airy notes of Oranges, Lemons, Apples and warm winter spices. These blends are sure to delight your family and visitors alike! For Bella Viva Orchards Dry Potpourri, grab a large bowl and add 4 Dried Orange Slices, 4 Dried Lemon Slices, 6 Dried Tart Apple Slices, 8 whole cinnamon sticks, ¼ cup whole cloves, ¼ cup whole allspice, 2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg, 5 bay leaves and 7 or 8 small

Right now in California, the trees are loaded with dazzling Oranges and Lemons – zippy fruits that bring happy colors, flavors, aromas and nutrition to cold winter days. And now’s the time to enjoy them in their dried form – rind and all! Our Dried Orange Slices, Organic Dried Orange Slices, Dried Lemon Slices and Organic Dried Lemon Slices are GMO-free, fat-free and are a source of dietary fiber, potassium, calcium and are packed with vitamin C. They’re touted to be great for your immune system, heart, blood sugar, digestive system, skin (1) and so much more! Simmer Dried Lemon or Orange Powder with

Easy to Make Cherry Scones: These fast and easy cherry scones are a flavor-packed and healthy way to enjoy Bella Viva Orchards’ sweet and plump Dried Cherries, our tasty Almond Flour and Sliced California Almonds. They have just the right amount of sweetness and flakiness and make a beautiful addition to your weekend brunch. They also make a nice weekday breakfast treat. Total Time: 25-30 minutes Yields: 10 Scones Prep Time: 10 Cook Time: 15-20 min. Ingredients: 2 cups packed down Bella Viva Orchards Almond Flour 1 heaping Tbs baking powder ½ tsp finely ground sea salt ¾ c to 1 cup sugar (to

Where It All Began: If you’re like a lot of people, you enjoy snacking on dried fruit. Have you ever stopped to think about how the idea of drying came about? Drying fruit has been around for centuries and is the process of extracting most of the original water content from the fruit. When fresh food was tougher to come by, having dried fruit on hand stood in place of fresh fruit in our diets. The main idea of drying fruit was to help preserve it; dried fruit lasts a lot longer than fresh fruit and is a lot easier to keep on hand.

Health Facts: California citrus has the perfect balance of sweet and tangy bursts of flavors that hit our taste buds and refresh our bodies. Not only do oranges taste delicious and smell amazing, they’re incredibly healthy for us as well. According to multiple studies, like most citrus, both lemons and oranges are high in Vitamin C. Vitamin C is important for many reasons including acting as an antioxidant, producing collagen and healing wounds (01). It may also strengthen our immune system—which is ironic because the California citrus season seems to come into play as the common cold season seems to arrive (02). Lack of

Stone Fruits & Thinning: At Bella Viva we have the best stone fruit around! This doesn’t happen by accident. Our team diligently cares for the trees all year, from soil and leaf testing to fertilizing and amending and finally pruning and thinning. Currently we are hard at work thinning the trees that will soon bare delicious stone fruit. This process ensures the maximum flavor, sweetness and size of each and every fruit left on the tree. Our passion for quality also means waiting for our apricots, plums, peaches and nectarines to reach their peak, prior to harvest. Last but certainly not least, proprietary drying