Haskap berry crop promising

An experimental crop being grown by a potato farmer in eastern P.E.I. is showing promise.

Lynn Townshend of Rollo Bay harvested her first haskap berries this year. She put in two hectares of the berries three years ago. She said it's not often that a new kind of berry comes along.

"I'm very pleased with the amount of berries on the plants and with the taste and texture," said Townshend.

"It's kind of nice to have a new berry early in the season. Like we were picking these at the same time as strawberries, and I think in a more typical growing year they might even be ready ahead of strawberries. So that's kind of nice. People at that point are really keen for anything fresh."

Townshend is not the only farmer on P.E.I. experimenting with haskap berries, and she expects the amount grown to increase. Currently about 10 hectares are being tried by commercial growers.

Townshend said once word got out this year that she had a small harvest, she had lots of people wanting to buy them. She hopes to have a full harvest next year.