Ok, maybe not in the Haskap, but maybe in the bucket. Being a non-selective berry picker, I end up with lots of prairie flotsam and jetsam in my bucket as I scoop berries from their branches. Haskaps are such an interesting phenomenon. They give such hope to a belief that spring will come and turn into summer. Thirty degrees today, fifteen tomorrow, maybe a frost thrown in (if there is any moisture to freeze), how about a thunderstorm, maybe some hail. Ignoring this potential catastrophe, the hardy Haskap creates a flower, invites in pollinators, ignores extreme temperature fluctuations, sets a fruit and merrily turns black organic soil into delicious, purple gems that beg to be eaten before other prairie fruit has woken up and put its socks on, or brushed its teeth.

I hate to disturb these delicate water droplets in order to pick the berries.

Along with this tangy purple treat you may just pop another protein filled morsel into your mouth if you eat as non-selectively as I pick. Here are some of the lurkers nestled among the berries as I prepared them for the freezer.

Note the little aphid along with the tasty green worm.

This tiny little transparent spider glistened with Haskap juice as it crawled up the berry.

This green worm was a little easier to spot when outlined by purple berries.

A member of the ‘Stink bug’ family also hitched a ride in my berry picking bucket.

I noticed these mating Crane flies on a power pole as I was coming back to my house after picking the berries. They are interesting as the adults don’t eat and have a sole purpose of mating to lay eggs and have them hatch. The larvae live in the soil and contribute greatly to breaking down organic matter so the Haskaps and their neighbourhood plants can get nutrition.