MEDIA RELEASE - Haskap Days

HASKAP DAYS 2017 Event Details and Signup Forms

Hello everyone!  The information you have been waiting for has arrived!!
Please click the links below. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us through our website!  Hope to see you all in Saskatoon this year!  It's just around the corner!!




Event Registration

Tradeshow Booth Application

Speaker Invite & Application

Haskap Days 2017 Event DETAILS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING/MEMBERSHIP DRIVE 2017

IMPORTANT INFO:

Haskap Canada Association Membership Drive 2017.

The fee is $50 and can be paid with the following options:

1. Online via our website - http://haskap.ca/membership-payment

2. If you have a personal PayPal account you could send us a $50 gift - this saves us $1.75 fee that PayPal charges for the online payment option above.

3. A cheque mailed to the address below. Make your cheque out to Haskap Canada Association.

4. E-transfer to haskapadmin@haskap.ca (Q/A: What is our favorite berry? haskap).

​Remember we do accept donations to further the work of this non-profit organization. ​A receipt will be mailed to you. Thank You to all who have donated in 2016!

Updated Website - www.haskap.ca

We have revamped it to better serve your needs. We are opening opportunities for businesses to advertise your . Complete the attached form and submit your requests to advertise to haskapadmin@haskap.ca.

HCA Annual General Meeting

Date: Satuday, February 11, 2017

Time: 9 AM - 4 PM

Place: Room 1E80, College of Agriculture, University of Saskatchewan

Schedule:

* Registration

* Speaker Panel

* Annual General Meeting

* Strategic and Action Plan Update

Check out the HCA Blog, available on the website, for video presentations from last year's AGM. Let us know if you would like a particular topic to be covered at this year's Speaker Panel!

SAVE THE DATE! Haskap Days 2017.

Wednesday, July 19 - Growing Haskap Introductory Course

Thursday, July 20 - U of S Haskap Days at the University of Saskatchewan

Friday, July 21 - Haskap Research Scientific Conference

Saturday, July 22 - Haskap Days Farm Tour

********* Stay tuned for more information! ***********

HASKAP DAYS 2016 VIDEO PRESENTATION

HASKAP DAYS 2016

HASKAP DAYS 2016

GARTH SANDER TOUR

VICKI COCKRUM TOUR

U of S Tour

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING NOTES - April 2016

HASKAP ASSOCIATION INFORMATION SHEET

JANUARY EVENT! SIGN UP NOW!

You won't want to miss this!  Start the new year with this great event!

Pruning Haskaps

There is a mixed opinion and some research being done in this area. Pruning Haskap can be done, but how it is done and what results you will see and how long it will last are questions that have several answers.

Experience has showed that pruning the bottom of the plants after harvesting them will result in a lot of re growth in the same area in the following years (not very effective). Pruning the heavier wood in the centre of the plants results in new branches with more fruit and it's more supple, less likely to break in the next couple of years. Pruning all the edges fairly evenly, results in lots of new growth although not necessarily a lot more fruit in the following year . 

Some opinions suggest that pruning the bottom to bring the fruit higher does not work. Pruning the middle opens it up and gives you more fruit (don;t do more than 25%). Pruning all over is too much work and plant ends up too bushy.

FLEA BEETLES

In Saskatchewan flea beetles mainly afflict Canola, and we’ve had a few minor infestations on dwarf sour cherry.

Information regarding flea beetles can be found here at the Canola Council website.

I have not seen economically significant damage from flea beetles on Haskap.

In general flea beetles feed on new growth; this can be especially damaging to canola when they feed on the cotyledons before the plant has had a chance to grow a number of new leaves. 

In regard to haskap; they might feed a bit on new leaves, but there are usually too few (flea beetles) feeding extensively to be a concern.

If a grower has evidence to the contrary; please get them to send me samples of the beetles, and pictures of the plant damage.

Perhaps the grower is in a blueberry growing region where Blueberry flea beetles are predominant? See attached info and link for control recommendations on blueberry.

In regard to pesticide control options, the attached insecticides are registered for Haskap (edible honeysuckle/Lonicera) and may provide some control.

Information provided by our Provincial Specialist, Fruit Crops - Forrest Scharf

Haskap Days NEXT WEEK!!

I hope you are all excited about the upcoming Haskap Days in Saskatoon this coming weekend from July 7-9 inclusive!!  Don't forget to sign up for the tour as well. This is your chance to ask all your questions and come back to your orchard armed with tonnes of information!

http://www.fruit.usask.ca/extension.html

TENT CATERPILLARS

Have any tent caterpillars affecting your plants? One of our colleagues treated some colonies with detergent and water which killed them effectively - especially with a little cooking oil mixed in. Malathion works too BUT is not good for bees at all, so not the first choice in products for this application.

Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk) is a certified organic pesticide derived from bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). It is both bee friendly and very effective when caterpillars are 1/2 inch to 1 inch long . It achieves this by freezing their intestines and starving them.
Fortunately for us, Haskap is their least preferred food and virtually indigestible to them as the leaves carry their own natural pesticide. That won't prevent them from eventually eating it but it is gratifying to know we are giving them a tummy ache. J .   Here is one of these destructive creatures getting ready to cocoon up in a hazel leaf.

If you have your own unique ways of getting rid of destructive caterpillars, please let us know!

Five things to know!

Five things to know about the Haskap berry!

https://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/news/2016/May/515284a9230746ce9f5183c38c63a1a8.html

'Native Pollinators and Agriculture in Canada'

An article published by the Canadian govenerment concerning specific pollinators in Canada along with plants that may be used to attract them can be read here...

Native Pollinators and Agriculture in Canada - http://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2014/aac-aafc/A59-12-2014-eng.pdf

Native Vs. Managed Pollinator Effectiveness On Haskap Study Released

The research that has been done over the past couple of years involving the  comparative pollination performances of native and managed pollinators on Haskap (Lonicera caerulea: Caprifoliaceae) has just become available online.  It can be accessed here for free until February 9th, 2016.  This research was performed by: S. Danae Frier, Christopher M. Somers, and Cory S. Sheffield (Dept. of Biology, University of Regina and Royal Saskatchewan Museum).

Title - 'Comparing the performance of native and managed pollinators of Haskap (Lonicera caerulea: Caprifoliaceae), an emerging fruit crop ' - http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0167880915301754/1-s2.0-S0167880915301754-main.pdf?_tid=be095eb2-a8c4-11e5-babf-00000aacb35e&acdnat=1450800046_d05ce7916cd1082b20538a650f9379b6ffe

Tomorrow! Free Pollinator Webinar...

On September 30, 2015, there will be a free webinar covering the topic of,  Wild Bees As Crop Pollinators: A Case Study In Haskap.  Here are the details...

Native Prairie Speaker Series 

Wild bees as crop pollinators: 

a case-study in Haskap 

Danae Frier, M.Sc. Candidate, University of Regina 

Wednesday September 30th, 2015 at 12:00pm 

This talk will be presented as a Webinar: 

Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2480962595540713986# 

In-kind support for the Speaker Series provided by the Department of Biology at the University of Regina and Royal Saskatchewan Museum. This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Govern-ment of Canada through the federal Department of the Environment. Ce projet a été réalisé avec l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada agissant par l’entremise du ministère fédéral de l’Environnement. 

Haskap Presentation, Salmon Arm, BC

This is the link to High Mountain Farm's compilation of presentations given at Salmon Arm, BC on march 24, 2015: http://www.haskapbc.com/#!haskap-seminar-salmon-arm/c1h2i



It includes video presentations on:

• Haskap biology, plants, and growing systems
• Establishing and maintaining a Haskap orchard
• Recent and ongoing research
• Marketing Haskap
• Harvesting and using Haskap
• Haskap in the Shuswap
• Q & A

In The News

A link to a recent National Post article on Haskap:

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/better-than-blueberries-introducing-canadas-new-super-food-the-haskap-berry

Konferencja Kamczacka - November 12, 2015

The edible blue honeysuckle conference in Poland spoken of by Dr. Stanislaw Pulta at this year's Haskap Day is now taking registrations.  The language of the conference will be English.  At present 150 Polish Zitoy equals $52 CAD.  The location of the conference is just south of Warsaw.

Poland Visits Haskap Day

Dr. Stanislaw Pluta led a delegation from Poland at this year's Haskap Day.  He is a researcher at the Research Insititute of Horticulture located at Skierniewice.  Here is a link to one of his black currant presentations (PDF file):  Blackcurrant Production and Breeding in Poland.  He expressed how interested growers in Poland are in haskap and spoke briefly in the afternoon.  It's nice to see this international interest.  Thank you for attending!