Cold-hardy honeyberries are ripe for connection, community

Haskap ( Lonicera caerulea ), also known as honeyberries, are a delicious and nutritious early-season honeysuckle fruit that survives Siberian cold and can sell for up to $9 per pound. They have no thorns and few significant pests other than powdery mildew and hungry birds—the cedar waxwings are downright fiendish.

Ingvaldson was one of several growers at the first-ever Honeyberry Academy sponsored by University of Minnesota Extension and Extension at the University of Wisconsin. Around 100 honeyberry enthusiasts toured Haskap Minnesota, a honeyberry farm near Stillwater, on July 1, then networked over honeyberry ice cream and candy. Ingvaldson provided fresh berries so participants could see and taste different varieties.

Pioneering University of Saskatchewan plant breeder Bob Bors wa