Saw Mill Hollow Family Farm

I spent a wonderful afternoon yesterday at Saw Mill Hollow near Missouri Valley, Iowa. For those of you that have no idea this is located, it is about thirty minutes north of Omaha, Nebraska. I went there with Paul McGarvey of Chadron Capital for a business meeting with owner Vaughn Pittz and his son, Andrew. The first thing that struck was how we almost instantly felt like we were somewhere other than Iowa. Saw Mill Hollow is in the Loess Hills of Iowa one of the most unique geologic formations in the world and one of the more fragile. As its name infers the business is located in a hollow with hills surrounding it. The meeting room looked out over one of two lakes on the property. As we drove in we saw five wild turkeys in a field on our left. As we left, over two hours later the same turkeys were just leaving the field, slowly walking up a hill.


But there is much more to this story than its location for Saw Mill Hollow is the first place in North America to grow aronia berries, and all the berries grown at the farm are organic! Since starting this operation in 1991, Vaughn has talked other farmers in the region and elsewhere to grow this unique berry and has supplied each of them with the bushes they needed to get started. He now contracts back with these growers for the berries they grow. He and Andrew then produce extracts, tablets, wine, salsa, jam and other products from the berry. Saw Mill Hollow sells just the berries, as well. Currently, there are approximately 150 farmers in Iowa and surrounding states growing the berry.

So what’s so great about the aronia berry, also known as the black choke berry. Well first and foremost it has more antioxidants than acai berries, cranberries or blueberries. I’ve tasted the wine and the salsa and both are very good. Secondly, the aronia berry was native to the United States but was all but eradicated when the Midwest was settled. It was introduced in Eastern Europe decades ago and is widely grown and consumed in Eastern European countries, especially Poland and Russia. The Native Americans of the region long knew of its medicinal properties and there is an effort to collect this information.

The other great thing about the aronia berry bush is that it is a sustainable crop that’s roots grow far into the Loess Hills’ fragile soil to help hold it in place. This is much better than attempting to use the sandy hills for row crops or even grazing.

For the past five years Saw Mill Hollow has hosted the North American Aronia Berry Festival. It is held the third weekend in September and last year approximately 1,500 people attended. It is a weekend of experiencing products made from the beery, learning from speakers, listening to live music and visiting the dozens of booths that Loess Hills artisans have set up on the grounds.

Currently, Saw Mill Hollow products are only sold in the health foods section of select grocery stores and in health food stores in Iowa, Nebraska, Texas and Hawaii, but most of the company’s products can be purchased online at http://sawmillhollow.com/shop/. Restaurants, retailers or processors wishing to purchase product on a wholesale basis should contact Andrew Pittz at 214-924-4810 or Andrew@sawmillhollow.com.