Have you ever dreamt of escaping the busy concrete jungle and moving to a small farm in the country?
If so, then turning that dream into reality is easier said than done.
Andrew Rosychuk, a former Edmontonian, packed his bags and moved to an 80-acre farm about an hour northwest of the big city.
Rosychuk is now living his best life as a haskap farmer in Sturgeon County. But it wasn’t easy.
What is Haskap?
Haskap, also known as honeyberry, is a medium-sized shrub producing tasty berries rich in antioxidants.
Haskap berries contain three times more antioxidants than your average berry.
Step aside, blueberries, and make way for the new superhero of the berry world!
These super-healthy berries originate from Russia and Japan.
Haskaps have been grown in Japan for over 100 years and are considered the ‘fruit of longevity.’
The name “haskap” comes from the Ainu people of Northern Japan and means “berry of long life and good vision.”
Haskaps are similar in colour to blueberries, but their appearance is wildly different. The berry is rectangular or tubular, with a thin dark blue skin covering its juicy interior.
It looks like a ‘Stretch Armstrong‘ blueberry.
Haskaps may sound delicate, but these berries are surprisingly hardy and can survive temperatures as low as -50 Celsius. Perfect for growing in Alberta!
The Haskap shrub can grow up to two metres tall when mature and produce as much as ten pounds of fruit yearly.
Now for the question on everyone’s mind. What do haskaps taste like?
Some describe the haskap as a cross between a blueberry, raspberry, and blackcurrant. Others describe them as a cross between blueberries and saskatoon berries.
Haskap Berry Farms describes the taste of the berry as “tart, sweet, and juicy with a melt-in-your-mouth effect.”
Haskap berries are versatile and can be eaten fresh, frozen, dried, or made into wines, juices, ice cream, jams, and yogurt.
A Berry Fulfilling Haskap Journey
Rosychuk’s haskap journey began at Olds College, where he studied horticulture and grew an extra large green thumb.
In 2005, Rosychuk planted different fruit trees and shrubs on his aunt and uncle’s land, but he absolutely fell in love with haskaps.
This love led to Rosychuk planting 200 of the shrubs as a trial, and he began selling the berries for profit to customers and restaurants.
But to start his own haskap farm, Rosychuk would need some serious capital.
Determined to own a farm, Rosychuk started working as a welder in the oil industry. In 2014, he bought land near Alcomdale and started preparing the land for planting in 2015 while working full-time.
These are the sacrifices necessary to build your dreams!
“I was doing 20 days on, four days off for that year… any time I had time off, I was on the farm,” Rosychuk told Alberta Farm Express.
He planted 10,000 haskap berry bushes that same year, anticipating his first harvests five to six years later when they had matured.
On his farm, Rosychuk is now growing 27 acres of six varieties of haskaps.
In addition to selling the berries to organic stores, Rosychuk sells his haskaps at local farmers’ markets. While that may sound profitable, Rosychuk has invested over $700,000 into his farm, putting a crater in his wallet.
“One day, I hope it turns into an investment that will pay back…It’s the long game; it’s not the short game,” told CBC News.
Rosychuk may not be making a profit yet, but the young farmer in his 30s has found farming extremely fulfilling. Unlike traditional farms, Rosychuk uses regenerative farming to produce haskaps.
Regenerative farming is a method that improves the resources it uses instead of destroying or depleting them. For example, conventional farming practices like plowing cause soil quality to degrade, hence the need for fertilizer.
“Regenerative farming works without plowing, making use of grazing animals and bacteria in the soil to help create stronger plant roots and highly productive soil,” Rosychuk told the Alberta Prime Times.
A New Agriculture Model for the Future?
Unlike traditional farming, regenerative agriculture works with nature, not against it.
Traditional farming treats nature as the enemy rather than as an ally. Think about all the time and energy spent on fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides to battle weeds and pests! Weeds and pest infestations are a symptom of an ecosystem out of balance.
The diversity of crops in a regenerative system mimics nature’s biodiversity, and weed and pest infestations are rare because the approach is balanced. Also, water is conserved because the soil is never tilled nor exposed to wind and sun. Regenerative operations are more drought and heat-tolerant than conventional farms. Perfect for our changing climate!
More and more farmers are moving from large energy-intensive industrial monocultures of the past to smaller regenerative farms. Regenerative operations take a much smaller footprint, so less land is needed, making starting a farm much more affordable.
The products from these small farms are often sold directly to consumers.
By selling directly to customers, farmers can avoid relying on a middleman who buys goods from a farmer and sells them to retailers or consumers, often resulting in reduced profits for farmers.
So, like Andrew Rosychuk, adopting a regenerative farm model is the answer if you want to farm and succeed in today’s changing world.
If farming is not your thing, but you want to support earth-friendly farming methods, then support regenerative farmers by purchasing directly from them. Not only is the food fresher and healthier, but you are also helping farmers earn their fair share while they grow food that helps repair the planet!
Talk about a win-win!
