Haskap Canada AGM, Saturday, March 28, 2015

Tomorrow's AGM at the U of SK Agriculture Building includes:

9:00 - 9:30      Registration
10:00 - 11:30  Presentations - Marketing, Phyto-Chemical Properties, Soil Nutrition
11:30 - 1:00    Lunch - Dying Wool With Haskap
1:00 - 2:00      AGM
2:00 - 3:00      Open Forum

Haskap Wins At World Spirits Awards

Several double golds have been won over the last year for haskap-based wines and liqueurs.

At the recent Wold Spirits Awards in Denmark a haskap liqueur won yet another award again...the producer a B.C. distillery.  The judges' description of this most recent win of Haskap Liqueur read:   Fragrance: complex, very aromatic, currant/raspberry/citrus mixture.  Taste: Vivid, Wild Berry bouquet, very good balance of acid and fruit, full-bodied and long.  YUM!

Here's the links from the most recent awards, which were given to Okanagan Spirits:

http://swiftsend.artistechnewmedia.com/t/r-2E0A60C02C58F08B2540EF23F30FEDED

https://www.okanaganspirits.com/products/liqueurs/haskap

The berries come from the [nearby] berry patches of Elaine and Randy Rodgers' Northern Jewel Farm, located in Smithers B.C.,  and High Mountain Farm, owned by Axel Hvidberg and Doris Buckler located in Salmon Arm, B.C..!

Nice...

Haskap Canada 2015 AGM

Haskap Canada Association

Annual General Meeting 2015

Saturday March 28th, 2015

Agriculture Building Map

University of Saskatchewan, Room 1E80

Agriculture Building, 51 Campus Drive

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

(held in conjunction with the Saskatoon Gardenscape event)

9:00 AM to 9:30 AM: Registration – No charge for sessions

9:30 AM to 12:00 AM : Information Sessions – TBA

12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM – Lunch Break

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM – Annual General Meeting 

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM – Open Forum

Directions to  the meeting room: directly connected to the Agriculture Building main lobby, to the right of the washrooms.

- See more at: http://haskap.ca/annual-general-meeting#sthash.9Sc4ZJ6H.dpuf

Haskap In The News: 12 January, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/why-corn-smut-could-be-good-for-you-1.2888681

2015 Haskap Canada Membership Drive!

Did you know that our membership drive for 2015 is under way?  Memberships are $50.00 and can be renewed online using PayPal at http://haskap.ca/members.  Among other things benefits include:

• Access to the Members Only page to see the full member network map and special posts, for example, on how to grow an organic Haskap orchard (coming soon)!
• Receive special notices of events 
• Newsletter 1-2 times per year

For more information contact Carol Vandale, HCA Administrator at: haskapadmin@haskap.ca

And why not invite a friend to join as well?

Kamchatka Haskap In Poland: Report

Here is a Google Chrome translation of an article in Polish concerning the growing of Kamchatka edible blue honeysuckle in Poland: "Many people wonder over the prospect of growing [edible blue honeysuckle] Kamchatsky in Poland. Is it worth it to take, or who will have to buy fruits and whether it is on the make? Past experience shows that there are great opportunities species growing in Poland, and in the disposal of fruit so far, there is no problem.

Kamczacka berry is an interesting species for cultivation in Poland, due to the low climatic and soil requirements. The plants are easy to handle, resistant to low temperatures during the winter and spring frosts. Fruit on commercial plantations of three years, you can start collecting now combine. For this purpose should be formed shrubs."

Here's the link: http://www.jagodnik.pl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1656:perspektywy-dla-jagody-kamczackiej-film&catid=49:inne&Itemid=72

There is also a video of harvesting (in Polish) and more to the article.  Accessing it through Goole Chrome allows you the option of translating it for yourself.  Just FYI...

Haskap Canada - 2015 AGM

Haskap Canada's Annual General Meeting will take place on March 28, 2015 and will again be located on the University of Saskatchewan's campus.  This date coincides with Gardenscape in order to allow attendees to participate in both events.  More information will be posted here as the date approaches...

Global News, Edmonton: Haskap, The New Super Fruit (10 Nov, 2014)

http://globalnews.ca/video/1664560/haskap-the-new-superfruit

Bob Bors: Announcing Haskap Grower's Guide And Visits To Grower's Orchards, 2015 - 2016

Dr. Bob Bors, 2014 Haskap Day Field Tour, U of SK

A sabbatical has been officially approved for Dr. Bob Bors.  From July 1, 2015 until June 30, 2016 Bob will be working on finishing up a grower’s manual for Haskap!  He is also planning on visiting Haskap growers, as his schedule allows.  In conjunction with these visits he would like to offer seminars as well as to provide advice in the field.  If a grower’s group, for example, were able to host a seminar, he would then be able to visit numerous sites in that region.  If, however, there is no grower’s group in your area this should not deter you from sending him an invitation if you are willing to invite others to your orchard who will benefit from his visit.

If you are interested in hosting an event or in inviting him to spend some time in your orchard you are invited to email him at Bob.bors@usask.ca so that he can start a database for possible visits.  In the subject line please add the words: Sabbatical Visit.  Please describe to him your interest and/or experience with Haskap.  He will need to know your location (your nearest town is good enough).  If he is able to be in your region he will be contacting you.

Remember, we at Haskap Canada ideally consider that Haskap is a resource that is able to improve an entire community as a whole.  Growers who also provide information and assistance to others in their region help an entire community to achieve a healthier, more bountiful life.  Your invitation to him should ideally reflect your experience at having done so, or your plans to do so.

During his sabbatical he will also be attending gene banks and nursery industry opportunities.  The invitation on this post is specifically aimed at growers who care about their respective communities.

What a great opportunity!  I guess that doctors still do make house calls!!!

Haskap Planting Tutorial - Haskap Haven Farms

The following video highlights Karl Schreiber's haskap planting on his farm, Haskap Haven Farms, at Pierceland, SK.  Nice job!  :)  (Heavenly Blue Haskap Productions, Hamish Graham, supervising)

U of SK Announces Two New Haskap Selections

The University of Saskatchewan has announced the pending release of two new haskap selections, Boreal Beauty and Boreal Blizzard.  Larger in size and mid-to-late season, these berries can hold the potential for bountiful fruit production throughout the summer.  These will be available in 2015/2016.

New Brunswick Haskap Workshop

Dr. Bob Bors will be speaking at a workshop in St-Basile, New Brunswick on October 25th.  Don Northcott (Phytocultures) will also speak.  Weather permitting there will be a tour of a Haskap orchard.  For more detailed information click here.

Winemaking With Haskap

It requires about 6 kg/13 lbs of haskap berries to make a batch of wine with the recipe that is posted on the U of SK haskap website.  In Haskap Wines At The U of Sk Fruit Program, Peter Reimer tells about what he discovered concerning yeasts, styles of wine, and gives a basic background for starting your own batch.  You'll need a 5 gallon, food-grade bucket, sterilizing solution, a sheet of plastic for the top of the bucket when you begin, a large carboy, a syphon tube, and the following ingredients: 4 kg / 9 lb cane sugar, a packet of yeast, yeast nutrient, potassium metabisulphate, and wine tannin.  (The later, specific additives only cost a few dollars and will provide you with enough tho make several batches of wine.)  The recipe works!  It's probably best to talk to a friend who has made wine before if this is your first attempt...but the results can be delightful.   Thank you, Peter!

The 'Privilege' Of Haskap

U of SK Horticulture Field Lab

When it comes to breeding plants it is relatively easy to genetically select and change a single physical characteristic in cross-bred progeny.  But try and change two physical characteristics simultaneously, and it becomes more difficult.  Try breeding for three characteristics, even tougher.  Furthermore, which of these characteristics are most-important?  Complex genetic formulas are not complete until each trait is properly weighted in that formula.  All of this is precisely what makes the Haskap program at the U of SK both unique and successful.  Breeding plants for a wide variety of traits takes resources...human, monetary, training, technology, oversight.  Here are just some of the traits that go into selecting a superior Haskap plant: bloom time, harvest season, fruit weight, fruit shape, fruit firmness, fruit flavour, fruit sweetness, fruit chemical analysis, bush habit of growing, bush vigour, disease resistance, productivity.

Their early Haskap breeding program was funded by plant sales, workshop fees, and volunteer labour.  But beginning in 2007 Saskatchewan Agriculture's Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) awarded three grants that allowed a 10x increase in Haskap research.  With the flourishing of Haskap orchards across Canada royalties from Haskap sales allowed for yet another doubling since 2011 in research both in general as well as in providing stipends to support graduate students involved in the program.  65% of Haskap plant royalties directly fund various aspects of the U of SK's fruit program; 35% of royalties goes toward a general horticulture fund and allows for the purchase and maintenance of equipment and facilities.  It is the success of this program that allows all Haskap growers to succeed.

A Call For Haskap Recipes

Loretta Bors and Lil Sawatsky are continuing to gather recipes for a Haskap Cookbook.  Whether it’s jams, preserves, juices, syrups, tarts, cakes, pies, liqueurs, wines, or melomels, they would like to hear from you!  Go ahead and share with the world the ways you have come to best love this delightful fruit.  No recipe is too simple or complex.  Attribution will be given along with a link to your website/blog at your request.

To enquire or contribute please contact Loretta at: lorettabors@hotmail.com.

Thank you!

The World's Best Information, Hands-On Learning: U of SK Haskap Day 2014 (Part 5)

For the hour following the field tour a forum was held that allowed Haskap Day participants to formally present/interact with one another.  The day was over by 4:00 p.m..  Hats and shirts sold well.  A few are left over.  Shirts are lg/xlg @ $11, hats (red only) @ $12.  ...plus shipping.  Contact: ebhbasics@gmail.com

Thanks to the U of SK for once again hosting the event, and to the Hort. Lab field staff for their time and teaching!

http://haskap.ca

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

The World's Best Information, Hands-On Learning: U of SK Haskap Day 2014 (Part 4)

By the time that lunch was over the sky had cleared and the sun was beginning to shine through the clouds.  Because of the heavy rain the night before we walked the tour and were picked up on the farthest point of the tour so that we didn't have to walk all the half mile back to the starting point.  Seventy-five paid participants were accompanied by Bob Bors, James Dawson, Bayartugla Lkhagvsuren and Ellen Sawchuk.  There is always a lot of interaction among participants in the field...one of the highlights of attending!

The Joanna-3 harvester was demonstrated, although not on plants because of the saturated field conditions.

We moved on to the next-generation group of selections; plants were lush, heavily laden with fruit, large, and varied widely in berry characteristics.  Each year participants are given the opportunity to mark plants that they consider to be of a superior taste; this year was no exception.  We next toured and tasted the selections that Dr. Bors acquired from the wild on his search across Canada several years ago.  And we ended the tour viewing and tasting the youngest of the bushes along with the original "9" row that produced their first commercial 'haskap'.  It should be remembered that haskap is an edible blue honeysuckle that was selected for superiority in many traits: berry size, shape, flavour, sweetness, not bleeding when picked...bush shape, size, rapidity of growth...etc..  As in all genetic selection, it is easy to select improvements in the next generation based on only one or two traits; it becomes mulch more complex and complicated when you are trying to select for many traits simultaneously.  The U of SK program proves that this is not only possible, but that it requires enormous effort, skill, and perseverance to do so...the proof is in the field!  Come see for yourself next year!!!

http://haskap.ca

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

The World's Best Information, Hands-On Learning: U of SK Haskap Day 2014 (Part 3)

Following lunch we walked the 35+ acres of haskap plantation at the University of Saskatchewan's Horticulture Field Lab on an interactive tour guided by Dr. Bors, accompanied by his field staff.

Before describing the tour itself, here's a constellation of commonly repeated words/phrases spoken by participants while we were tasting and comparing...

...good growth, such big fruit, good selection of flavours, 
delicious, amazing, size, taste, wow!...

I think that it would be fair to say that participants were literally bowled over by the plant growth, plant size, berry size, and ridiculously bountiful amount of fruit on the plants this year...

http://haskap.ca

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

The World's Best Information, Hands-On Learning: U of SK Haskap Day 2014 (Part 2)

Having heavily rained the night before the order of the day was switched so that the presentations occurred in the morning and the orchard tour would happen in the afternoon.  With weather clearing later in the day this worked out very well.

Dr. Bob Bors began the morning sessions at 9:15 a.m., providing a general overview of the haskap program, starting with a brief, historical background, and progressing up to the current/future direction of research.

Next,  Bayartugla Lkhagvsuren presented his work on the ecology of wild haskap, which so far has included a review of the available literature on edible blue honeysuckles in Russia.  Speaking Russian, he has made an invaluable contribution in translating Russian texts, even though many of these articles are not peer-reviewed.  He also spoke to the geographic locales of haskap prototypes, as well as the implications of this for historical haskap biology.

Next, PhD candidate James Dawson presented the developments of his continuing research on haskap neutraceutical compounds, reminding Haskap Day participants of the need to not speak of the benefits of anti-oxidants, but of the specific components contained in the plant and how they actually function in the human body.  Additonally, he indicated that these benefits may not come simply from the fruit itself.

Dr. Bors finished the morning presentations with some interesting side-lights on what is generally known: the manner in which haskap flowers can survive freezing temperatures, cautions about how many honeyberries have simply been re-named by vendors, the effects of pruning, and the relationship between hard science and the way in which science is appropriately an art in the continued development of their fruit program.

http://haskap.ca

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

The World's Best Information, Hands-On Learning: U of SK Haskap Day 2014 (Part 1)

Integrating the best haskap research in the world, and providing the opportunity for active participant interaction, the University of Saskatchewan once again hosted their annual Haskap Field Day yesterday.  Here's a snippet showing their Joanna-3 (Weremczuk/Poland) harvester in operation.  Due to heavy rain the night before they were unable to demonstrate actual berry harvesting as they have in previous years.  However, here is a video clearly showing just how the machine works...

http://haskap.ca

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