by Rose Diebolt
It was so exciting to see the rain on Sunday, especially for the gardens. All my plants and new seedlings were doing the “happy dance.” My mother, who lives close to London, was bragging about eating strawberries from her garden. I have a few strawberry plants and they are definitely not ripe, but I am picking and eating Haskaps.
Haskap is the Japanese name for Lonicera caerulea. It has been known as ‘Blue Honeysuckle.’ It has a fresh raspberry/blueberry flavour with a special zing. The plant has few pests and is the first fruit crop to ripen each season, even before strawberries. The plant is well behaved: it doesn’t sucker, has no thorns, needs little pruning in early years and tends to fruit when very young. The plants are very hardy and have survived in a winter as cold as -47°C.
I planted some Haskaps about three years ago and each year I keep planting a few more. I love the flavour of the fruit, they are heavy producers and so easy to look after. Easier than blueberries and raspberries!!!! Plant some in your garden or amongst your flowers and you will be eating the berries after two years.
Haskap-Garlic Scape Salad Dressing
My garlic scapes are not quite ready so I used two fresh green garlic (they look like green onions), the whole plant. I didn’t have any haskap jam so instead I used 1/2 cup fresh haskaps and maple syrup.
2 fresh garlic scapes, chopped
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp Dijon mustard
4 Tbsp haskap jam or 1 /2 cup fresh or frozen haskaps
4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive or sunflower seed oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Put everything in the blender and puree. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Slow Cooker Pork Roast
If you don’t have pork use chicken. If you cook the pork longer you can use it as pulled pork for sandwiches. Either way it is excellent.
3 pound pork shoulder roast
2 cups fresh or frozen Haskap berries (blueberries will work)
1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice (I used frozen cranberries)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp dried sage or 1 Tbsp fresh sage
1 cup fresh garlic scapes, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
6 strips of bacon (optional)
Put pork roast in slow cooker.
Add all the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker except the bacon—around the roast.
Top with the strips of bacon.
Cook on low for 8 hours.
Remove the roast and puree the sauce. You can use slice the roast and serve it with the gravy or pull the pork apart and mix it with the sauce for pulled pork.
