Manitoba family swaps grains for haskap berries after worst harvest in 50 years
CTV
A Manitoba farming family has swapped traditional prairie cereal grains for a cereal topping that’s gaining popularity in Canada.
A Manitoba farming family has swapped traditional prairie cereal grains for a cereal topping that’s gaining popularity in Canada.
Trena and Wayne Zacharias are now the proud owners of a 20-acre haskap berry orchard just north of Winnipeg.
Trena told CTV News the decision to switch happened in 2019 after they had the worst harvest in half a century.
"We kind of decided at that point that grain farming was not going to be in our future," she said.
In September 2020, the couple got a license to grow 20,000 haskap shrubs. The Zacharias’ said they picked the haskap berry for its health benefits and the plant’s hardiness.
"They're one of the highest in antioxidants. They have, I think, quadruple the antioxidants of even a blueberry," said Trena.
According to the University of Saskatchewan Fruit Sciences Department, haskap is a new crop for North America. It can also go by blue honeysuckle or honey berry, it tastes like a blueberry mixed with a raspberry, and it’s one of the first berries to ripen each year in mid-June.
