HASKAP is the Japanese name for Lonicera caerulea.  It has also been known as ‘Blue Honeysuckle’, ‘Honeyberry’, ‘Edible Honeysuckle’ and ‘Sweet berry honeysuckles’.  When translated into English, it is sometimes spelled as Hascap, Haskaap, and Hasukappu.  An Internet search using the various spellings will return a surprising number of websites that talk about this fruit!

 HASKAP tastes great, ripens in mid- June, and has few insect pests and diseases, all of which make it an excellent crop to consider for organic production.  As it is a new crop, no pesticides are registered for use on the crop, but after 7 years of observation, it appears none are needed.  It is thought that perhaps its early ripening allows the fruit to escape pest damage or diseases.

HASKAP ripens weeks before strawberries and has a flavour commonly described as a combination of blueberries and raspberries. The plants begin to bear fruit after only 3 years, and the berries are easily shaken off at harvest time making this plant suited for mechanized harvesting.

HASKAP are used in a wide range of products including juice, wine, candy, pastries, jams, and dairy products.  They are also a treat when eaten fresh.  HASKAP fruit production is a new and developing industry in Canada. Unlike the original Russian Blue Honeysuckle varieties released in Canada, the new varieties developed at the University of Saskatchewan are branded as ‘Haskap’ because our Japanese partners consider them to be high enough quality for the Japanese market. The new varieties are descendant from Kuril Islands Lonicera crossed with the best Russian varieties.

There is currently 2 named varieties released here in Canada as of 2007.  Tundra is the most hardy and one of the best tasting berries available.  It averages about 1.5 grams a berry.  Borealis are a larger berry and ranked higher on the taste test, however the fruit tended to be softer and had a higher incidence of juice bleeding from the scar.   I had the previlage to sit in on the fruit sampling table at the U of S, back in 2007 and believe me when I say that if these fruit are allowed to reach proper maturity, they taste nothing like the old russian varieties that are out there. The majority of trees going into orchards is the Tundra. 

Most propagators are offering both of these named varieties along with 3 other number releases.  It is also recommeded to purchase one of the Russian varieties that blossom around the same time. Blue bell, Blue Velvet and Cinderella are the 3 most common varieties out in industry available as polinizors.

Many others like ourselves have signed up for the U of S trial breeding program.  Here seedlings are sold to growers who sign a contract at a reasonable cost recovery price.  These seedlings could be duds while others might end up being the next generation of haskap.  Our plan is to see which of the seedlings work best as polinizors while offering a high quality fruit.  I'm sure out of the 600 plants that we are trying we will find some that meet these criteria.