Honeyberry look like a blueberry but is from the honeysuckle family . The mild - flavored berry withstands negative temperature and has superfruit properties .
Honeyberry is growing in popularity in the cooler part of the United States due to its power to flourish in low temperature . The unusual yield is equate to blueberry in appearance and flavor , but honeyberry ’s nutritional density makes it quite extraordinary .
While it looks a bit like a blueberry bush ’s odd - mold congener , the fruit issue forth from a plant in thehoneysucklefamily — in fact , the Charles Edward Berry is sometimes squall low Banksia integrifolia . Honeyberry rise in Japan and is known as haskap in its native country . In summation to selections discovered in Japan , another of the first document honeyberry race was found in Russia .
Blue Fruit Farms produces up to 200 pounds of honeyberries per year.Credit: Courtesy of Jim Riddle
What Does Honeyberry Taste Like?
Honeyberry flavor run from tart to sweet and is most commonly describe as a cross between a raspberry and a blueberry . Honeyberry can be deplete all the way you would a distinctive berry , from sassy to used in mess , syrup , wine , and scorched goods . If you find honeyberry in your local market , substitute the fruits in ablueberry jamorstrawberry muffinrecipe for the mild - flavor berry .
Health Benefits of Honeyberry
Honeyberry is an immune system supporter , thanks to itshigh antioxidant content . The yield consistently produces the most anthocyanins among superfruits including blackberry bush , mulberry , empurpled grapes , and maqui berry . Anthocyanins are created by the natural pigments in blue- and red-faced - tinted fruit and have been link to improved heart wellness and other anti - inflammatory benefits such as reducing gingivitis and rheumatoid arthritis , prevent the ontogeny of Aspinwall malignant neoplastic disease electric cell , and boosting cardiovascular health . Beyond its antioxidant benefits , honeyberry is also high in vulcanized fiber and vitamin C.
Growing Honeyberry at Home
Honeyberry will grow well in your home garden if you live inUSDA Hardiness Zones 2 - 7 . Because the works thrives in cooler temperatures — it can withstand as crushed as -40 ° F and still bring forth berry in below - freezing conditions — pests are n’t much of a trouble . The plant like sun and well - drained soil but can still do well in less idealistic condition . Honeyberry needs sizeable water and is not drouth broad .
Honeyberry bushes blossom cream- and yellowish - colour tubular flowers in give . The plant life expect cross - pollenation — they must be planted near an unrelated cultivar that blooms at the same time . Fall is considered the good time to establish honeyberry , though leaping planting can also be successful . The oblong blue and purple fruit ripen in June .
It typically take a few year for honeyberry bushes to produce a healthy amplitude of fruit . plant life will only stock a few berries in the first year or two after planting . By year three or four , George Bush will yield 5 to 15 pounds of honeyberry fruits . Though pests are n’t an issue , birds like to pull the berry from the bushes . Once your honeyberry plant systematically raise fruit , cover them with netting for protection from birds .
Freshly picked honeyberries on Blue Fruit Farm.Credit: Courtesy of Jim Riddle
Haskap Berry : The New Super Fruit . Montana State University Extension .
Blue Honeysuckle Berries ( Haskap ): Health welfare , Nutritional Facts , and Growing Tips . bring around with Food .
