An early Christmas present was given to Mike Council, a five year veteran-user of Carbon Works™ products, on Christmas Eve when he received the brix test results for the day on his Festival Variety strawberries. The results confirmed what customers and buyers already knew, an 11°Bx. . . the highest ever received, up two degrees - beating the previous record of 9°Bx. When asked how he did it, Mike declares, "The only thing I'm doing different is cutting my fertilizer 30% and using Carbon Works™ products."

Brix (°Bx) is a term used in the food industry for measuring the approximate amount of sugars in fruits obtained by using a refractometer which is a simple optical instrument that measures the amount of light refracted in a liquid. Measuring the Brix level of fruits and vegetables is very important because it is a great indicator of flavor and quality. The higher the brix level of the fruit's juices, the higher the dissolved solids in the foods juices such as sucrose, fructose, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, and hormones. It is estimated that in a healthy fruit or vegetable, approximately 80% of the brix is represented by the natural sugars which give the food its great flavor and goodness. Refractometers are a standard piece of equipment for many agronomists and is a standard tool used in the fruit and citrus industries. Many companies offer big bonuses to farmers who can produce high brix fruits because it means they have to add less artificial sweetener to the juices which are devoid of any nutritional value (unlike natural sugars).

Mike has pushed RESTORE™ harder this season than ever before and now the results are showing up. He decided early this season to conduct several tests to gain a better understanding of how the products work. He changed the initial rate of 3 gal/acre to 6 and 9 gal/acre to see if there were any difference in stage growth. (Read story here)

Mike has been an avid proponent of Carbon Works products since 2007 when he almost lost his entire crop from salt water intrusion. Our products saved his crop and he's been spreading the word ever since.