HASKAP BERRIES

Have you heard of this latest introduction? I have been trying to get these at the garden centre for 2 years and finally succeeded this season.

 Haskap is an amazingly hardy, fast growing, high yielding, great tasting berry bush that is relatively new to North America. It is an edible honeysuckle that originates from Siberia and can be found in Russia, China, and Japan. Haskap is the Japanese name for Lonicera caerulea.  It also goes by the name 'Honeyberries' or  'Blue Honeysuckle', Recently, it has been developed at the University of Saskatchewan by Dr. Bob Bors for commercial production.

HARDINESS                                                                                         

Originating from Siberia, Haskap is extremely hardy. It can withstand winter temperatures of -47° Celsius. Not only that, its open flowers can endure -7° Celsius with no detriment to fruit set.  Making it a great choice for the OttawaValley. They fruit very early in the season, usually in mid June, even earlier than strawberries. They are a non invasive globe shaped bush that grows 1.5m in height.

TASTE

They are most commonly described as a combination of raspberries & blueberries, but without the seeds. They can be used in a variety of ways including eaten fresh, used in baking, jams & jellies as well as frozen. These new berries are high in Vitamin C and a great source of antioxidants.   

PESTS
Haskaps taste great, ripen in mid- June, and has few insect pests and diseases, all of which make it an excellent crop to consider for organic production.  As it is a new crop, no pesticides are registered for use on the crop, but after 7 years of observation, it appears none are needed.  It is thought that perhaps its early ripening allows the fruit to escape pest damage or diseases.

I have only brought in a few plants to peak people's interest so drop in soon if you'd like to give these interesting new berries a try in your own garden.

Happy Gardening!