Haskap berries are very high in vitamin C and A as well as fiber and potassium. They have a significant amount of antioxidants in them, in fact it is about three times more than a blueberry.
Haskap berries are very high in vitamin C and A as well as fiber and potassium. They have a significant amount of antioxidants in them, in fact it is about three times more than a blueberry.
These berries are a hidden gem, you can add them in your baked goods, smoothies, as jams and preserves, juice and some distilleries and breweries are adding haskap berries into their beverages for some extra zing! While haskaps are high in all sorts of healthy vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, they are also very complimentary to many other tasty things. Uncommon Cider, located in Calgary, Alberta, has used haskaps in one of his cider offerings to create a unique, or ‘uncommon’ like cider. This cider has notes of pomegranate, plum, and fruit leather with a stunning pink color.
Haskap berries are one of the secret berries that are showing up in canadian farmers markets. It has many names from Honeyberries, Edible Honeysuckles, Blue Honeysuckles, Sweet Berry or even the Canadian Honey Berry.
A Haskap berry has a complex tasting profile.This fruit can be described as tasting like a cross between a blueberry and as raspberry or long grape, with a kiwi like texture. The different varieties of Haskap all taste a little different to the next depending one when it was picked and how ripe it is.The berry itself has a beautiful deep purple and blue like color.
Farmers Putting it all on Blue Haskap berries are gaining ground in Canadian fields as farmers are placing their bets on the new superfood. The berry is a relative newcomer to store shelves and many consumers are not yet familiar with it, even though farmers have been growing Haskap berries in Saskatchewan for the last fifteen years. Saskatchewan Haskap orchard owner Curtis Braaten, speaking to CTVNews Saskatoon, hopes this will change as consumers are educated about the benefits of the berry: “More and more consumers will be aware of it. And as time goes on, every year, there will be more production. So check out your local super market. Ask the produce manager, do you have any haskaps berries? Educate them and it's only a matter of time until we have them out every season.” Haskap berries are a versatile super food, high in antioxidants and vitamins. They can be made into jams and spreads, or incorporated into desserts like ice cream, or reduced into syrup. With any luck we will soon see Haskap berries appearing on store shelves across Canada, coming to the table from farms in several provinces including Saskatchewan. Haskap farmer Kanden Yungwirth has high hopes for the Haskap berry’s future on Canadian store shelves: “I'd love to see it being not shipped anywhere, just being consumed all locally. We grow it here. I'd like to see everyone enjoying it and getting more producers in the game.” You can find out more from this CTVNews Saskatoon article: Link to the article here!
Haskaps are an exceptional plant for your garden for a number of different reasons. If you live somewhere that hits those negative degrees, this tree/ bush is for you! Haskaps are incredibly winter durable. These bushes are commonly found in cooler temperate areas of Canada, Poland, Russia and Japan. The shrub or tree generally grows between 4-6 feet and takes about 4 feet wide. The plant flowers in early may lining up with the canadian springs and is ready to produce fruit and harvest in late June or early July. When these shrubs do produce fruit, you must keep your eyes out for birds! Birds love this fruit and will stalk the tree for when it produces fruit.
These bushes are also considered fast growing. They are high yielding shrubs that produce the earliest crops of all of the berry plants. A single mature plant is known to produce up to 7-10lb of fruit! Another quality of the haskap plant is that it is disease and pest resistant, which makes it a lot easier to grow naturally. Haskap plants are not very fussy when growing. They require full to part shaded sun light. Haskaps can grow in most soil as long as it dries between waters.
