Haskap Goes To Ottawa

The Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge is a yearly competition sponsored for high school students in order to encourage young Canadians to pursue studies and careers in the field of biotechnology - http://sanofibiotalentchallenge.ca/.


This week Kirsten Larson won her region's BioTalent competition in Manitoba with her project entitled: Haskap: An Introduction to the Fruit, Its Health Benefits, and Marketing Possiblities. Not one of her judges had so much as heard about haskap. On Monday she competes in Ottawa on the national stage with thirteen other finalists from across our nation. A haskap ambassador in our nation's capitol! Congratulations, Kirsten...

Tracking The Growth Of Blue Honeysuckle In Spring

On March 25th, 2009, I took a cutting from this Russian blue honeysuckle that was planted as a single sprig in April of 2007. It bore fruit in June of 2008. Our weather at the time was hovering around minus 10 C (15 F) for a high, although it had reached freezing a couple of days before that and rained. However, snow still lay heavily on the ground. The plant showed no external signs of growth. My climate zone borders on 1b - 2a.

Upon removing the outer, paper-like bark here is what I discovered.

And a dissection of the stem. The pith was already moist and seeped water.