Kirkaberry Farms in Midway recently harvested its latest crop of haskap berries in preparation for a juicing, jamming and sun-drying campaign that will turn the 1,300 kg of fruit into high-energy, cancer-preventing treats.
Owners Murray and Sue Kirkpatrick are transplanted Albertans who moved to Midway eight years ago from Chestermere, a small bedroom community of Calgary. As farmers, their traditional crop choice had been hay, but, according to the Kirkpatricks, they were getting tired of producing animal feed and were looking for a new challenge.
A magazine article about the growing popularity of the haskap berry, considered by the Japanese as the “fruit of life longevity,” and subsequent research on the intensely-flavoured pome also know as the honeyberry, convinced the Kirkpatricks that they should replace their Midway hayfields with hundreds of rows of the shrub-like haskap plants.
That was more than five years ago, and now Kirkaberry Farms is poised to start producing a volume of berries large enough to see their products hit grocery store shelves in the next three or four years.
Asked why they chose the haskap as their new crop, Murray Kirkpatrick explained that it was the berry’s hardiness that convinced he and his wife that it would prove viable. “The haskap plant is extremely hardy,” Kirkpatrick said. “It can withstand temperatures to -40 C, and even -7 C when in bloom. Show me another plant that can take minus seven in blossom. It’s one tough little plant I think.”
The haskap plant is a deciduous, fruit-bearing shrub that grows to a maximum height of around two metres. The fruit is a dark blue elongated berry about a centimetre in length. The Japanese refer to the fruit as haskap, though it is also known as “edible honeysuckle”, “blue honeysuckle” and “honeyberry”. The species is native to northern Japan, Russia and Canada. While similar in appearance to blueberries and cranberries, the haskap is actually related to tomatoes, as well as elderberries and snowberries.
The flavour of the haskap is somewhere between a blueberry, a Saskatoon berry and a raspberry. Its skin is virtually “melt in your mouth”, and its seeds so small as to be unnoticeable, qualities that make the berry ideal for processing. Some selections have an appealing tartness, which produce juices devoid of the sugary flavours of other fruit extracts.
The Kirkpatricks are currently mixing it with apple nectar, to create “Happle Juice”, a process that, while still in the experimental phase, is producing a beverage popular amongst Kirkaberry’s customers.
In November of last year, the operation was joined by the Kirkpatricks’ son Randy and daughter-in-law Kristi Bain, who will be spearheading the marketing and sales of the berries, juices and jams, as well as sharing the day-to-day tasks that such a venture demands.
The area’s unique growing climate makes it ideal for haskap production. With its hot days and cool nights, Midway’s fairly consistent conditions result in berries with higher than average Brix values, which are indicative of sugar content. Plants generally begin blooming in early April, and the fruit is harvested in June.
The health benefits of the berry are significant. Not only is it two to five times higher in antioxidants than various types of blueberries, it also contains a high concentration of quercitin, which is a flavonol found in many fruits and vegetables and considered an excellent source of energy.
Randy Kirkpatrick took raw haskap berries to children’s soccer matches over the summer, and found them quickly replacing oranges as the power snack of choice. “Athletes use quercitin as part of vitamin supplements taken prior to long runs,” added Bain. “The kids, if they’re falling asleep at the dinner table, you give them a shot of haskap juice and they’re suddenly wide awake again!”
The Kirkpatricks also discovered an unexpected effect the juice can have on meat. “I added some to a barbecue sauce for ribs and steak,” said Sue, “and you could cut the meat with a fork.”
What started as a farming experiment, with no guarantee of success, is beginning to take shape. The Kirkaberry orchard now covers 50 acres, growing, in addition to haskap berries, dwarf sour cherries and Saskatoon berries, and the Kirkpatrick family is looking forward to many years as a producer of what some call a “fruit of vision.”
Kirkaberry Farms will be selling their products and promoting the health benefits of the haskap berry at the upcoming Rock Creek and Boundary Fall Fair.
