Cherry Valley Organics

Herbal Tea

USDA Organic Hand-Grown Teas

All of the teas are hand-grown in keeping with principles of small-scale agriculture. The steps for our process are detailed below:

Start seeds by hand for annual plants in our greenhouse each spring.

Plant those small seedlings out in the fields between April and June by hand.

Weed or cultivate the plantings with specialty hoes and with hand weeding.

Harvest by hand with hand pruners into large bins.

Lay the harvested herbs out onto drying racks (4 by 4 by 8’ tall) in the drying building.

Once dry, garble the herb leaves off of the stems by hand.

Package herb leaves for bulk storage until packaging by hand.

Pack the herb leaves into tea bags or loose-leaf bags, and then into exterior packaging.

The Estate Grown Difference

We describe our tea herbs as “Estate Grown” on our farm in Cherry Valley (Burgettstown, PA). The only exceptions here are the orange peel in the Rose Orange Tea and the cinnamon chips in the Cinnamon Apple.

Founded in 2001 by Jodi Danyo, Cherry Valley Organics began as a one-third-acre “urban farm” in the Pittsburgh suburb of Crafton. Our farm now encompasses approximately 36 acres in nearby Cherry Valley, Washington County, PA, and has grown into one of the leading producers of organic products in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Despite this expansion, the footprint of the operation is still quite small with farming operations encompassing less than 9 acres.

Estate Grown

Founded in 2001

Organic Herbs

Small Footprint

Organic from Day One

Feb 12, 2021

Starting back in 2001.

When we first started out farming back in 2001, it was a struggle. We were experimenting with a lot of different crops and marketing strategies. We were doing farm share and selling at some farmers' markets. But, just like anyone starting out, you learn a lot from your mistakes and one of the challenges that plagued us was how to grow perfect organic crops without the conventional sprays of traditional agriculture.
Feb 12, 2021

Organic was always part of our story from day one.

So the question was: how do we grow a perfect kale leaf or a perfect lettuce leaf without any insect-chewed holes? Back then, we were using a lot of row cover on veggie crops but we still had a lot of “seconds.” And, if you have ever used row cover, you know it is not the most fun part of organic farming as it requires constant maintenance and monitoring. It blows off and requires constant reinstallation, becomes hole-ridden, and sometimes requires many shovelfuls of soil to keep it in place. And even after all that, pests still get into the crops.
Feb 12, 2021

This struggle for hole-less leaves extended to herb crops as well, especially basils.

We were trying to grow beautiful, large Italian basil leaves and invariably, we were plagued by caterpillars, Japanese beetles, and many others. In those early years, we decided to make lemonade out of lemons, and we started drying our extra or seconds culinary herbs and selling them in jars/packets. We quickly experimented with drying other herbs as well, and we realized that we could make delicious teas from these holey leaves. And so, Cherry Valley Organics’ teas were born.
Feb 12, 2021

Then and now.

Our growing skills have improved tremendously since 2001, and now we are growing extremely high quality, in many cases hole-less herbs. When we first started, organics were so difficult. Organic biological and natural pest and weed controls were not widely available. Now, common organic control items are available in local home improvement stores. When you look at the struggles of the early 2000s, modern science and manufacturing have made organic farming more efficient and easier (although, it's still not easy). Over the last 20 years, we have worked hard to build healthy soil at our farm. Soil that now grows healthier, stronger plants that are better able to fend off pests and disease on their own. Plants that have rich, complex flavor that are unique to our farm and each growing season.

Growing Methods and Soil

CVO organic practices and growing methods feed and protect our plants and improve our soil. These methods allow the soil to retain nutrients and improve soil structure over time, creating an ecosystem that is healthy and sustainable for the long-term. We enrich the soil with compost that we purchase from AgRecycle.

A lot of our customers tell us that our veggies, particularly our onion family and winter squash, have especially good flavor. We attribute this to our growing methods and soil.

Organic Quotes

“Because they’re not protected by pesticides, organic plants that suffer from insect attack can accumulate higher level of flavor chemicals and other protective molecules, including antioxidants.”
- Harold McGee, food guru, culinary scientist, and cookery writer.

"Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations."
– United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

USDA Certified Organic

Organic seeds and planting stock.

Organic physical and preventative means are taken before controlling disease and pests with sprays.
CVO utilizes insect netting/row cover on our organically grown products, and only use biological sprays as a last resort. For diseases, we ensure that the plants are planted in such a way and in a location that promotes good air circulation and prevents foliar disease.

Crops are rotated each year.

Cleaning and sanitation of equipment with organic approved materials.
Like Sanidate.

All of the organic requirements for our farm are met by writing and following an Organic System Plan.

New construction on the farm is done without treated lumber or highly toxic materials.

Soil management planning and strategy is implemented to build soil health over time.
Our soil nutrient content and other factors of soil health are consistently rated as “Optimal", according to Cornell Soil Health Studies through PASA, despite many harvests of agricultural products.

Shop the Cherry Valley Organics Herbal Tea Selection

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Our Herbal Teas Taste Amazing

Not only is our tea good for you and good for this wonderful planet- it tastes amazing! Being organic and responsibly grown and packaged doesn't compromise quality, it enhances it.

Fresh herbs are wonderfully fragant and potent.
The traditional drying process for herbs concentrates this potency, but often removes some of the nuanced flavors, especially if the herbs are crushed releasing all of the plant essential oils/essence. This is why if tea leaves are left whole until brewed, the cup of tea is more flavorful.
Our tea bags do not contain "tea dust."
The teabags that we create do not contain “tea dust.” Instead, because they are hand-filled, they contain the whole leaves of the herbs (not crushed leaves). We recommend massaging your tea bag before brewing to release the tea's full flavor.

CVO Sacred Basil

When first considering herbal teas, we were of course experimenting with a bunch of different herbs. We fell in love with sacred basil right away. Our sacred basil, Kapoor Tulsi Basil, has this amazing fruity sweet and cinnamon-clove aroma that other earthy, flavorless Tulsi teas on the market just don’t have - tea bag or not.

The primary distinction to be made with Tulsi is that ours is made from the plant Ocimum tenuiflorum, Kapoor Tulsi Basil. The other brands are using different herbs like Holy Basil, Ocimum sanctum (Krishna and Rama varieties), and East Indian Basil (Ocimum gratissimum (Vana variety)). So, if you haven’t tried our Tulsi, you probably haven’t experienced the wonderful flavor Kapoor Tulsi has to offer!

Why Specialty Basils?

Around 2005-2006, specialty basils were all the rage in the culinary world (and perhaps they still are!). We were seeing chefs ask for Cinnamon Basil, Persian Anise Basil, and Lemon and Lime Basils and once we started growing them, using them as tea ingredients was a natural evolution. Ironically, this is not a jump that we’ve seen any other company really make, and maybe that’s because they are not approaching tea from a growing perspective. And, maybe society is too focused on Italian basil that you eat in your spaghetti, and we’re not focused on drinking these other specialty basils. The health benefits of basil are many (anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, aids digestion, the list goes on).