Honeyberries (Haskap) as a U-Pick Crop for Minnesota

Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator

 

Image: Honeyberries maintain their shape and quality for a longer period of time when picked by hand. 

Honeyberries, also known as haskap, are a fruit crop related to honeysuckle that produces a blue fruit. It’s an extremely hardy crop and does not require acidic soils to thrive, which can reduce the steps for production as compared to blueberries, for example. There are a number of different varieties with various growth habits and fruit qualities, some of which were more recently bred out of the University of Saskatchewan. 

Many growers mechanically harvest the berries by shaking the shrubs using tools like a modified sawzall or an olive harvester, but this reduces the fruit's integrity as it comes off. This process works well for frozen sales or wholesale to wineries and other businesses. Hand harvesting, while more time consuming, can maintain the fruit integrity, making it conducive to fresh eating through farmers market sales, farm stands, or U-Pick. 

Opportunities for honeyberry U-Pick 

Each honeyberry variety has a relatively short harvest period as compared to blueberries, which reduces the amount of time a U-Pick farm can be open for customers. There is variation in the harvest window between honeyberry varieties, however. For new farms, selecting both early and late harvesting varieties to plant in rows, with the additional goal of selecting pollen compatible varieties, could elongate the season. Additional considerations for variety selection include finding varieties that ripen evenly to give a consistent experience and expectation to those who come to pick. 

The honeyberry harvest season overlaps with strawberry and finishes just before blueberry harvest season begins, which also presents the opportunity to add them to a diversified fruit U-Pick farm. 

Similar to caring for mechanically harvested berries, it’s helpful to prune honeyberries during dormancy in a way that prevents low-hanging branches that will eventually droop to the ground with the weight of the fruit. For U-Pick operations, the additional goal of pruning branches to encourage outward growth and preventing inner branches can help with aeration and make the fruit easier to pick. 

Example U-Pick: Haskap Minnesota

Images: Honeyberries are fairly easy to pick by hand for U-Pick farms. 

This past week, I visited Haskap Minnesota, a two-acre honeyberry farm for their first U-Pick season to get the full experience as a customer. George Terwey has been growing two varieties: Boreal Beast and Boreal Beauty for ten years under perimeter netting. 

His farm is located near Stillwater, Minnesota, which is a tourist destination in itself and close to the metro region. This can be advantageous to gain U-Picker traffic, but should not discourage others from trying U-Pick who live in more rural areas as Minnesota Grown can still help put farms on the map to bring attention to where U-Pick (i.e., pick-your-own) farms are located. 

George selected Boreal Beast and Boreal Beauty for their upright growth habits and even ripening, which helps with mechanical harvesting goals. He has single varieties per row of shrubs. For U-Pick, this gives pickers a consistent experience. This year, George noted less consistent ripening than usual for his berries, possibly due to reduced pollinator activity when temperatures fluctuated during bloom. Boreal Beast was ahead of Boreal Beauty, and this was the variety they directed pickers to for U-Pick. 

I went to pick with my daughter and there were a number of other families with kids who showed up during our time there. We started picking Boreal Beast, which had an oblong shape and was more similar to a blueberry in regards to its flavor. For those who are unfamiliar with honeyberries, they are extremely anatomically unique as one fruit is actually two ovaries that fuse together during development. The seeds are not noticeable and the berries themselves are extremely light. At one point, my daughter sampled a Boreal Beauty, which I thought was more similar to a blackberry in flavor, and she found some preference for. 

I stayed to pick for over an hour and made my way through two to three shrubs total. The fruit was abundant and fairly simple to pick. The berries I sampled on the inside of the shrubs had a similar flavor to the ones on the outside, which was reassuring, although they were more difficult to find and could be more likely left behind by casual pickers. 

Food safety and U-Pick

Image: Food safety is important to consider for U-Pick farms. A handwashing station that includes soap and water (not just hand sanitizer) can help encourage healthy picking for customers on the farm. 

George had a sink located just before the field and encouraged pickers to wash their hands with soap and water before entering the field. A hand washing station is important because hand sanitizer cannot replace washing hands with soap and water. This is especially important for farms where customers might also interact with animals. 

Other considerations for those who are interested in creating a U-Pick farm include signage, building customer relationships with email alerts, social media, and on-farm education, and creating a space for customer parking can all help improve the experience. When pickers learn the significance of a crop, how to identify fully ripened fruit, and what to expect when eating, storing, and using it at home, they are more likely to value the experience. 

Agritourism is a large part of Minnesota farming, especially for fruit crops. For years, Minnesotans have been accustomed to picking June-bearing strawberries throughout the state, and the occasional blueberry. There are a number of emerging berry crops that fill a niche for consumers throughout the state, including serviceberries and currants, as well as honeyberries, for which educational efforts are continuing to build within University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin Extension.

Honeyberry variety reviews: SeedLinked is a website that has used grower input to evaluate a number of honeyberry varieties. Check out some of the results here.