BLUCHER, Sask. – Her cheeks sport a pink flush from spring days spent tending long rows of fruit trees east of Saskatoon.
This spring, Myrna Engelberts was found amidst her flowering saskatoon bushes enjoying the start of the growing season.
“I am a nature lover,” said the former nurse who operates her orchard on a corner of her son Pat’s grain farm.
Her five-acre orchard includes saskatoons, strawberries and raspberries, with newer plantings of cherries just starting to produce.
She is also watching developments in cranberries and blue honeysuckle. That fruit offers her another harvest period because it fruits earlier than the rest.
Read Also
No special crop fireworks expected
farmers should not expect fireworks in the special crops market due to ample supplies.
Engelberts bought a small tractor to handle the weeding herself and hires people to do the picking. This year’s picking season was shortened by a run of hot muggy summer days, while last year’s wet conditions produced a fungus in the orchard.
That had to be treated, but generally there is little need for chemicals, she said.
Her other growing challenges include fencing the fruits affected by deer grazing or scratching, and situating the orchard on a north slope to avoid sunburn of the fruit.
Engelberts talks about enlarging play areas for the children that accompany their families to the u-pick orchard and creating a commercial kitchen to increase processing opportunities.
For now, she is content with the operation’s small size and she sells baked fruit products and preserves at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market.
Engelberts lures her customers to the farm through highway signs and e-mails but finds the best advertising in loyal customers and word of mouth.
“You have to love people and love to talk,” said Engelberts of the business.
Growing fruit and interacting with customers directly is also satisfying to her son, Tony, who works and lives on the farm but commutes to a job in the city.
“You get to see the long-term development of fruit crops,” he said.
Tony, a former infantry soldier who works in recruiting for the Canadian Armed Forces, sees a bright future here but wants more support for growers and the industry.
He dreams of diversifying the orchard fruits, making wine and opening a storefront operation.
The Engelberts say their location east of Saskatoon is a plus because most area orchards operate in the Moon Lake district south of the city.
The Engelberts hope to capitalize on people’s increasing desire to experience the farm and enjoy the taste of fresh picked, locally produced goods.
“People are starting to realize there is more nutrition and more taste,” Tony said. “We need to educate the rest of the world on what Saskatchewan fruit has to offer.”
Saskatoon Pie
4 cups (1 L) SASKATOON BERRIES
1/2 cup (125 mL) ORANGE JUICE
1 cup (250 mL) GRANULATED SUGAR
3 tbsp. (45 mL) ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
DASH OF NUTMEG
DASH OF SALT
1 tbsp. (15 mL) BUTTER
Toss berries with orange juice. Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, salt and butter together; mix in with berries. Place berry mixture into prepared pie shell. Cover with an egg-washed lid, and dock top. Bake at 425 F (220 C) for 15 minutes, then 350 F (180 C) until brown.
Source: Tastes of Saskatchewan by Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food, 2000.
