BioProducts Division

Haskaps (Blue Honeysuckle - Lonicera caerulea L.)

These plants produce a fabulous tasting fruit that is hard to describe. Some say it tastes like a cross between a raspberry and blueberry, but we feel that it is truly unique. There is much demand for this fruit in Japan. This is due to increased urbanization of traditional Haskap orchard areas.  We think that once this berry gets more exposure here, the local demand will also boom.

Unlike any other crop on the Prairies, Haskap produces fruit as early as mid-June. This makes it an excellent choice for those growing dwarf sour cherries and/or Saskatoons. It allows orchard growers a longer season to capture fresh market customers. Also, because it can be mechanically harvested, established growers may be able to use their existing harvesting equipment.

Haskap is exceptionally winter hardy. Plants will over winter in temperatures as low as -45°C.  Flowers can be exposed to temperatures of -7°C with no detriment to fruit set.

There are several health benefits to those who consume this berry. Haskap berries are high in vitamin C and a great source of antioxidants.

We are pleased to make available to you the NEW selections of Haskap bred by Dr. Bob Bors at the University of Saskatchewan. These selections were released to a limited number of propagators in March 2007. For an outline of the attributes and descriptions of these varieties, view the following document:

Haskap info - February 2010

These plants are suitable for both spring and autumn planting.

Important:
-Tundra are sold out for 2010 but we are accepting orders for Spring 2011 shipping.

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For more information on Haskap production on the Canadian Prairies check out:

www.haskap.ca

Tundra

This variety has been deemed by Dr. Bob Bors at the University of Saskatchewan as “the most suitable variety for commercial production at this time (2007)". The fruit are firm and do not bleed from the stem end when removed from the plant. It possesses the desired fruit shape and size to appeal to the Japanese market. It is suitable for mechanized harvest and Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) processing.

Borealis

This variety is noted for having very large fruit. It has an excellent flavor. The fruit of Borealis are not as firm as those of Tundra, hence it is not suitable for IQF. It is probably most suitable for U-Pick operations or the home gardener.

9-15

This variety produces fruit which are chewy.  This unusual trait may be an advantage for some processing applications.  This plant displayed a high yield at the time of selection in the field.

9-92

This variety could potentially be a good pollinator for Tundra. The University of Saskatchewan will be conducting trials in 2007 to examine this further. Its berries are of similar flavor to Tundra but slightly more “tangy”

Berry Blue™

This is an older variety that was bred in Czech Republic and introduced into North America by an Oregon Nursery. This variety pollinates well with the parent plants of the new University of Saskatchewan varieties. It is also one of the fastest growing and tallest varieties so it will quickly make many flowers and therefore has been recommended by Dr. Bors to be an option for a pollinator in a haskap orchard setting. If you bought other pollinators you might need twice as many pollinators to do the job! Berry Blue’s berries are half the size of U of S haskap, with a tubular shape. Size and shape wouldn’t be very important if processed into food products and the small berries might be an advantage for muffins. It offers a high yield of berries which are not as sweet as the U of S Haskap. Commercial growers should have pollinators be 10 to 20% of their plants. Perhaps with Berry Blue it could be more like 10%.

The U of S is working to develop pollinators that will have big tasty berries that be hard to tell from the new U of S varieties. We will carry these as soon as they are available.