Gints Strazdiņš, the owner of the farm "Kurpnieki" in Smiltene parish, said: "My parents had this berry in their kitchen garden back in the 1980s. Basically, it comes from the Far East, from Kamchatka. It grew wild in the Far East. In Russia - in Siberia - other berries are quite difficult to grow and of course people noticed that and started to breed and improve and create varieties, but now the Canadians are very advanced because they have probably realized that this berry grows very well in their climate zone; whereas before it was popular to grow corinths, now they grow honeysuckles."
The main advantages of honeysuckle are the longevity of the bush, its frost resistance, the fact that the berries come early, even before strawberries, and its nutritional value.
"The closest comparison is the blueberry, because it is closer in appearance and the anthocyanins, antioxidants are 3-4 times higher, in principle it is closer to the wild blueberry, it is also colored like the wild blueberry. Unlike the bush blueberry, which will not color the fingers and tongue, this one does. But it is the good stuff that helps eyesight. The berries are wonderful, and the flavors vary from variety to variety - they are more sour, they are sweeter, some have a little bitterness," said Strazdiņš.
The cultivation of honeysuckle is not yet widespread, with a few farms also growing it in Limbaži municipality. Raivis Mickēvičs, a farmer in Pāles parish, has about 6 hectares of honeysuckle planted and is currently harvesting berries on his farm.
Mickēvičs did not hide the fact that buyers are still quite reluctant: "It's hard, it's hard to sell. Let's put it this way - those who buy, every one who buys is a new regular customer, so the clientele is building up."
Talking about problems, Mickēvičs emphasized competition with Polish berries":
"The Poles have pushed the price down; at the beginning, when I started, it was a new thing and the price was quite high, profitable, now they have pushed the price down, and all the big processors - they already point out that you can buy the same berry in Poland for a ridiculous price. We have very good climatic conditions to grow it, better than the Poles, there are prospects, but compared to our competitors, the Poles, there is different state support, completely different, they have support for irrigation equipment and things like that, we don't have that."
On the other hand, the main problem with honeysuckle production on the Kurpnieki farm can be seen in the field, where there are large flocks of birds that pick the berries better than a combine harvester. Strazdiņš, the farmer, estimated that this year it was even half the harvest.
"The first year we had a good harvest, the second year the birds realized that this berry is edible, so now we are struggling and using different methods," said Strazdiņš.
The main job now is to protect the berry plants. But as for the honeysuckle, Strazdiņš believes that the berry will become increasingly popular.
"There is no great tradition of eating this berry in Latvia yet, I think it is a question for the future, but I am pretty sure that this berry will pick up because 20 years ago they didn't really know about sea buckthorn and blueberries either. Of course, people need to be introduced to the berry, and I hope people will like it," said Strazdiņš.
Strazdiņš jokingly said that perhaps linguists should also think about calling this berry by another name, as honeysuckle in Latvian – sausserdis (literally – dry core) is not the best word for marketing, nor does it describe this juicy berry.
