Haskap Harvest 2013 - Heavenly Blue Honeysuckle Orchards, Ltd.

Tent Caterpillars - Northern Minnesota, Lake Manitoba Narrows

Yesterday these pics arrived from a HC member in northern Minnesota...

Also, entirely stripped of their leaves, a HC member reported an infestation in the bush along Hwy. 68 (Lake Manitoba Narrows)...that the road was a carpet of tent caterpillars.

http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse003/inse003.htm

Tent Caterpillars And Haskap

Tent caterpillar outbreaks have recently occurred in Prince George, BC, and Prince Albert, SK.   Questions about larger provincial infestations are being raised.  So far they do not appear to have acquired a taste for edible blue honeysuckles.  Haskap growers should monitor their orchards closely for this pest.  The following PDF links are to MDSD's for BTK, which is approved for use on edible blue honeysuckles: BioProtec 3P, Dipel 2X.  Please report any tent caterpillar outbreaks in your orchard to Haskap Canada.

U of SK, Haskap, And North American Market

Haskap Day 2013

Haskap Day this year will be held on Friday, July 19 at the University of Saskatchewan's Horticulure Field Lab, Saskatoon, SK.  The day will feature talks by Dr. Bob Bors, and doctoral student James Dawson will report on various compounds he has discovered in Haskap while doing his research .  There will be introductions to new graduate students and their respective fields of inquiry. Industry updates will be addressed by the Haskap Canada Association, who will also speak about some of their new initiatives. As always there will be field tours, which are continuing to break open new insights as these plants continue to mature.  Starting time is 10:00 a.m..

Sanitation Protocols For Fruit Producers

With haskap berry time rapidly approaching Haskap Canada would like to remind producers of their responsibility to ensure sanitary conditions in their orchards and processing facilities.  Recently, at least 30 people contracted hepatitis A after consuming a frozen berry juice blend.  Improper hand sanitation on the part of food preparers/handlers is most often the cause.  Hepatitis A can be passed on through feces.

If you are a large producer/processor, or are thinking of becoming one, or if you are selling to restaurants or commercial food chains, or are thinking of doing so, then you should be aware of the  Canada GAP program regarding the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables.  This is a food safety program for companies that produce, pack, and store fruits and vegetables meant to implement and improve effective food safety procedures.

If you are a smaller scale grower you should at least read the Canada GAP protocols and seriously consider how you can make your orchard/product safe for the public, to whom you have a responsibility.  Here are some very simple items to think through:

Consider:

- Do you take sanitation in your orchard seriously?

- Do you believe yourself to be responsible if someone becomes ill after eating fruit from your orchard and its cause is traced back to you?

- Can you afford to pay damages for such a situation, especially if you have no safeguards/guidelines in place?

Implement:

- Do you wash your hands thoroughly before going to your orchard?  (It sounds ridiculous to ask, but do you know how to wash you hands properly?  You're never to old to learn, and hopefully humble enough to do it.)

- Do you supply sanitizing gel, soap and water with which orchard users may wash?

- Do you wash your hands after visiting the bathroom?  (Many people do not.)

- Do you have adequate bathroom facilities at your orchard?

- Do you encourage visitors to your orchard to wash/sanitize their hands before entering it?

- Do you allow animals/livestock in your orchard?

- Do you restrict wildlife access to your orchard?

- Do you instruct your visitors to follow a printed protocol that includes these and other sanitation guidelines?  (Such as:  Do you make visitors aware that if they are infected with a communicable disease, that they can spread it to others through improper personal sanitation?)

- Do you keep a record of orchard users and their contact information?