Second Helpings: Cooking With Haskap, by Lil Sawatzky and Loretta Bors

In the same fashion that the haskap berry is new to our tables, so likewise is a haskap cookbook new to our kitchens...making it most likely the first of its kind in the world!  And being so made it a challenge in its own right to produce.  Since it is still a relatively unknown fruit, a cookbook that highlights the joys of using it is by definition difficult to write.  Not only are recipes difficult to find, but the inherent puzzle of actually finding out how other ingredients interact with haskap, or even of proving the submitted recipes, are themselves at the root of this challenge.  Add to this their desire to accommodate gluten-free and low-/no-sugar diets and Loretta Bors and Lil Sawatzky have done a wonderful job.  Illustrated and with fun-facts added, their haskaptions bring recipes to life on the page, even as the results of these recipes will being flavour and zest to your fare!

Its contents include: Appetizers/Sauces/Jams, Main Dishes, Side Dishes, Desserts, and Methods/Preserving/Helpful Hints.  There is a forward by James Dawson. 49 pp.; spiral bound.

The cost is $15 + shipping, and you can order a copy by contacting Loretta Bors at: lorettabors@hotmail.com

Bon appetite!

Haskap Day 2015 Presentation, University of Saskatchewan: Irrigation, Rick Sawatzky

One example of several presentations given on the orchard tour.  Horticulture Field Lab director, Rick Sawatzy, speaks on field irrigation by drip tube...

Lac La Biche Enters Haskap Category To Fair Competition

Haskap Canada member, Norbert Brecht lobbied his local agricultural society to have haskap included in their country fair.  As a result, haskap has now being included in their tame fruits class.

Way to go, Norbert! :)

Are We Going To See You At Haskap Day? That's This Friday...

The University of Saskatchewan's Horticulture Field Lab is located on the north side of 14th Street between Preston and Circle Drive in Saskatoon, SK.  Parking is available for participants only along the south side of 14th Street... 

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Haskap Cookbook Nearing Publishing

Loretta Bors is finishing up a Haskap Cookbook in the next few days and plans to print and sell the 1^st edition at the upcoming Haskap Day.  If you have any recipes you’d like her to consider, please email them to her in the next couple days: Loretta Bors (lorettabors@hotmail.com).  While this will be a quick print, she intends to get the book published and distributed widely. She was part of the team that won a Gormand Cookbook Award in 2013 for Cooking with Cherries on the Prairies.

She will be acknowledging all contributors and can include websites, company names and other contact info if you want.

Haskap Day 2015 Agenda, June 26 - Part 2

Time: Friday June 26,  8:30 to 4:00

Location:  U of Sask Horticulture Research Farm, U of SK, Saskatoon, SK

In recent years our Haskap Day has been held in mid-July which allowed visitors to see late ripening Haskap in their prime.  But this year we will be able to see early ripening haskap since the event is in late June.  This marks the 10^th anniversary of haskap funding from Saskatchewan Agriculture, which has allowed much larger plantings of haskap.  If you haven’t visited us in the last few years you will be amazed at how many plants we have and the diversity of the collections.

Highlights of what will be on the tour:

• ·       15 acres of haskap seedlings from our breeding program
• ·       Tasting berries and tagging favourite plants in the field
• ·       20 named Russian varieties in good production
• ·       U of Sk named varieties
• ·       Wild Haskap gathered across Canada and their hybrids
• ·       Plants from Japan, Russian and the Kurile Islands
• ·       Strange relatives of haskap: some grow fast and tall but taste disgusting, other creep along the ground
• ·       Demonstration of Johanna harvester
• ·       Demonstration of hand harvesting (swimming pool and tickling methods)
• ·       Demonstration of pruning and pruning equipment 

In the field, attendees are allowed to sample fruit from different bushes.  Each attendee will be given flagging tape to mark superior seedlings.  Later in the season, the breeder will visit every marked plant and evaluate the bushes.

Please, do not chow down and eat many fruits from a favourite bush.  If many fruits from a good bush are eaten we will have no idea that bush was productive and it might never get considered as a new variety.

For Sale:  


Several of our propagators will be having booths, usually taking orders but sometimes bringing plants for sale.  A limited supply of Haskap T-shirts will be available. 


Location:

North side of 14^th Street, between Preston and Arlington avenues.  A big green “HORTICULTURE” sign is next to the gate.  Park on the south side of 14^th st.  There will not be any room in our parking lot.  A map is on our events webpage: http://www.fruit.usask.ca/extension.html

Cost:  $25 per person, Kids and U of SK students free.  $5 more if you want us to order pizza for you, otherwise bring your own lunch.  Cash or Cheques only, we cannot process credit or debit cards

Haskap Day 2015 Agenda, June 26 - Part 1

 Here is the agenda for Haskap Day 2015, which is sponsored yearly at the University of Saskatchewan's Horticulture Field Laboratory, Saskatoon, SK.

This year Haskap Day will be held on June 26...

8:00AM	Haskap Day Agenda, 2015
	8:30 - 9:00 Registration
9:00AM	9:00 – 9:30 Introduction to Haskap and Horticulture Field Facilities
	9:30 – 12:30 Tour of Haskap Fields We will visit various fields.  Bob Bors will point out plants of interest in each field.  There will be ample time to talk to growers and staff, and to sample berries.  This is a good opportunity to ask questions either about your own plants or the things you see in our fields.
10:00AM
11:00AM
12:00 NOON	12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
1:00PM
	1:30 – 2:30 U of S Haskap Research Updates Bob Bors: Haskap Breeding, New research Projects James Dawson: Haskap Nutraceuticals Bayartulga: Greenhouse Haskap, Nutrients for Haskap Plants
2:00PM
	2:30-3:30 Presentations by Growers & Groups Haskap Canada Update IRAP: 4 kinds of grants available for growers Various Propagators These will be 10 minute (or so) talks. Some will be impromptu interviews of growers. If you have a specific topic you want to present, email Bob.bors@usask.ca
3:00PM
	3:30 – 4:00 Growers Forum Open discussions, Questions and Answers. This portion may start earlier if not enough grower presentations occur.
4:00PM
	Note: our facility closes at 4:30, so everyone must leave before then

FLOWER POWER!!!

In keeping with our emphasis on the importance of pollination, here are a few links to articles that cover a new exhibit assembled by The Royal Saskatchewan Museum and now on display, entitled Insects, Flowers, and Food.    

http://www.prairiedogmag.com/2015-05-28/flower-power/

http://globalnews.ca/news/2000016/people-buzzing-about-new-exhibit/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/bees-bugs-flowers-focus-of-new-royal-saskatchewan-museum-exhibit-1.3075921

The  designers used one of Haskap Canada's photos in a multi-media presentation, which shows Dr. Bob in the field last summer on Haskap Day 2014.  Why not stop by and view their exhibit when you're in town!