Remember those pics of the haskap blossoms covered with bees? Last year, the robins completely decimated the crop, so this spring when I saw the berries starting to bulk up I went out and covered the bushes with bird netting. This week we’ve been watching the robins attacking the netting and I knew it was time to get out and pick my berries.
Haskaps belong to the honeysuckle family and are native to northern boreal forests. They are very hardy in our climate. The name comes from the Japanese word Haskappu. Collections of wild plants were bred in the 1990s to create varieties with superior flavour – much like a blueberry — and larger, juicy fruits.
I purchased my 3 plants when we lived in Alberta and they have travelled with me from one home to another. I even had them planted for a short year at the Sorrento Centre and dug them up before we left. (I think it’s actually time to root some cuttings and get some smaller starts going… at some point bushes just get too big to move again!) They are now well established in my garden.
So far I have a small (but tasty) bowl of haskaps – in fact, they didn’t even last long enough in the kitchen for me to get a picture of them, LOL! I have covered the bushes back up to give the remaining berries the chance to ripen. Hopefully there will be another bowl full before the season ends.
Photo thanks to Joybilee Farm
I don’t produce enough volume to warrant any preservation, but it sure is nice to snack on fruit that is fresh from our own garden.
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