Beyond the bushel: Farm in Paris, Ont., only sells haskap berries

CTV’s Alexandra Holyk checks out a farm in Brant County that is growing an unusual type of berry.

Berry season is in full swing, but one farm in Paris, Ont., is going beyond the typical bushel, only selling one type of berry.

Haskap berries are Blue Gables Acres’ specialty. Otherwise known as honeyberries or honeysuckle berries, they look like an oddly shaped blueberry.

“I think it tastes a lot like you smashed a raspberry, blueberry and a blackberry together, and no seeds,” said co-owner Kimmy Osmond.

“Blueberries on steroids,” added Osmond’s husband and other co-owner, Delano.

The couple doesn’t come from an agricultural background, but they were looking for ways to cultivate their family-owned five acres.

“We started looking at different things,” said Kimmy. “We looked at hazelnuts, we looked at grapes, and we looked at what we can do that would make a difference here and be unique.”

Their search led them to plant haskap bushes in 2017, turning their property into a profitable and growing business.

“As we could afford, we planted,” said Kimmy. “And so it has been, from the beginning, just grassroots, seeing if this would work.”

However, a short harvest season can sometimes make for slim pickings.

“We’re looking at more like a two-week window, a little bit more than two weeks,” Kimmy noted.

“Sustainability, from the point of view of harvest, just means being strategic and hopefully having enough people, enough resources to get it done in a small window,” said Delano.

“Because we hand-pick, that makes it more challenging for us,” he added. “But we chose to do that to try and make sure that we get the best quality of fruit that we can.”

The farm’s pickers are typically out in the field early in the morning or just before dusk to avoid the heat and pick the best of the bunch.

“When you’re picking on the bushes, you’re looking for the ones that are mostly blue,” said Jude Brouwer, who’s been working on the farm since last summer. “You want to leave the green and red ones. Size doesn’t really matter, just as long as they’re mostly blue.”

When they’re not picking, they’re tending the grounds.

“From planting in the fields, to weeding, to watering, to picking the berries, all the way to the end stage,” said picker Katie Carmichael.

Once the berries are picked, they’re separated and sorted to be sold fresh, frozen, or processed into wines and jams.

“We freeze them in one-pound bags if people want them throughout the year for smoothies, for bakeries,” Kimmy said.

While customers can’t pick their own berries, they can pick from a variety of locally-made goods at the farm or at the Brantford Farmer’s Market.