Haskap berries anyone have experience with them?
 

Looking at getting a bunch for spring. Any info would be great.
Thanks
Brad

Have you tasted them? They were a little more sour- tart than I expected. Make insane jam with them though. I plan on getting a few this Spring.

SIL grows them in Rainbow Lake. I don't care for them myself but they are supposed to be good for you. You need a male and female bush to get fruit.

My buddy just gave me a jar of jelly/jam and its great

here is some info on them
http://haskap.ca/about-haskap

David:)

Yup and yum!
 

Got an aunt and uncle that just sent me three jars of jam made from them and rhubarb.

Excellent!

Very hardy plant.

The University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon did a lot of research and plant breeding on them a few years ( may still be going on ) and I know they did have some seedlings last spring to sell. The ' Agriculture and Bio Research " was the department that I seen them in. They had a lot of info on them also. If you do a google search on ' haskap berries in saskatchewan' and check out the " usask research ' growing haskap berries in Saskatchewan ' gives a very good article on the research and tips of growing them.

My FIL grows those. He fights every year to keep the birds out of them--especially Robins. You need to drape a fine mesh net over the bushes. He gets his netting at Lee Valley.

I planted one
 

Hi: You have to plant more than one of the same type...so they can cross pollinate. I bought ONE at superstore garden centre and it did not flower.

Hoopi

We've had them for a few years now. They are very bitter to eat off the bush and we haven't been able to pick enough for jam yet. Hopefully this year. The birds love them so we always cover them early to try and save them.

I got some from T&T seeds in Winnipeg 2 years ago. They grew about 12 inches last year and grew about 3 cups of fruit. A little tart but still good.

Thanks everyone. I have never tried them but was looking for hearty fruit plants that don't mind heavy loam soils. Haska came up. I got all the info off google I could. It looks good. UofS looks like they have a good set up. Just looking for personal info like I got. Thanks guys.
Brad

I planted a couple last year. Got them from Costco. Was surprised they had those and goji berries. The Goji berries I planted last year were full of berries.

I've got 12 haskaps that I planted about 6 years ago. All have grown quite well in the Bentley area. Berries are very tart, but make excellent jam if you can get them before the waxwings! When I bought them, they were in 4" pots & maybe 6 inches high. Five of the bushes are now approx. 4 feet high & 4 feet around. The rest are slightly smaller, with the male plants being quite a bit smaller (2 feet X 2 feet).

Yes the Waxwings and I really enjoy these fruits. They are the earliest berries to need picking in my mini orchard. A 4 ft x 8 foot patch provides us with all the Haskap / Honey Berry fruit we need.

Hascap berrys
 

We have 14 plants of different varieties so that they cross pollinate. Some grow only 2 ft. high others are 5 ft. tall. We get about a ice cream pail of fruit average per plant. They have fruit on by middle of June which is quite tart but gets better after a month or so. Robin and especially wax wings will eat all the fruit if it is not protected. Taste of the different varieties is different, some is sweeter others are more tart.

I know this thread is older... but we planted two about 6 or 7 years ago. They are the best ever this year. About 4 feet high and 3 feet plus wide. Looks like a hedge. Just picked 3 or 4 cups of berries tonight and there's triple or more that to pick tomorrow. Ate everything we picked and they weren't all that tart, we both like them raw. Our cherries are way more tart. I wish I could replace all the hedges on both sides with them (our neighbors own the hedges). Got these plant as Greenlands near Edmonton years ago. Worth the wait to see good fruit.

Does anyone recall what varieties they planted?
I just planted a 50' hedge of aurora (pollinators) and borealis (supposedly sweet)
I was going to plant the other side as well, but all you guys saying they are very tart kind of have me worried.

I planted 5 bushes last summer. They are doing quite well. I like the slightly sour taste. I was surprised they were ripe already. Now I need my currants and saskatoons to come in.

I wonder if the people saying they are too tart are picking them too early?
Everything I've read says the outside AND inside must be purple to be considered ripe.

We just planted two to find out what they are all about, I've been told to make sure they are ripe before picking or they will be tart tasting.
Cat

not sure.

Mine are definitely ripe to the point of being a bit squishy. Very juicy and if you squeeze too hard your fingers get stained.

They are slightly tart...not face puckering tart. I would say far less tart than crab apples for sure.

eating them were yummy

We planted two bushes last year, borealis and tundra varieties.

They overwintered well, but I am noticing something is munching pretty heavily on the leaves. Any suggestions on preventing further pillaging?

Thanks for the info.
Do you recall what kind you planted?

Hashap Combination No. 5

I will try and find the variety card that came on them and report back to you.

Googled them, but nothing comes up.
I'm assuming 5 different varieties?

That would be much appreciated, thanks.

Well I'm sorry to say I do not have an answer. I looked through all my tags (have a lot) and there isn't one for the haskaps. I've got one for every other berry or fruit in my yard. I can even tell you what kind of honeysuckle I have. Sorry.

I thought I'd seen a thread about Haskap on here, we just saw a few of them today at Costco and they were half price as the garden centre is now closed. We didn't buy any, I think I'd prefer to sample some before dedicating any real estate to them.

Caber - you may be able to try them here: http://www.saskatoonfarm.com/

I'm fairly sure that is the place I got mine from. Two types - 8 plants. They are now close to 5' tall. Only tried a couple - tart.

Very hard to keep birds out of them. Although loaded each year, we only get a couple cups. Not enough saved up for jam yet.

Cedar Wax Wings are the worst. They "harvest" before ripe.
May build a new Pheasant pen around them next spring....