Oh, honey honey

With oodles of vitamin C and potassium, honeyberries are being hailed as the new Scottish superfood, but can they find a place in our kitchens, asks Sarah Todd

- Sarah Todd

IN 2016, a farmer's son returned from honeymoon in Japan with both his bride and news of a nutritionally magical berry, apparently adding a new legend to Scotland's rich tradition. Yet this was no myth.

Stewart Arbuckle had been introduced to honeyberries in the colder regions of Japan and could hardly wait to bring tell of them back to the family fruit farm in Invergowrie, near Dundee in Perth and Kinross. Hearsay has it that his suitcase, and the new Mrs Arbuckle's, returned packed with as many incarnations of the berry, even children's sweets, as the newlyweds could gather.

Word spread and the Scottish Honeyberry Growers co-operative was formed.

Fifth-generation farmer Finlay Hay, a relation of the Arbuckles, was a founding member.

Together with other growers-now numbering eight and located from Angus down to the Borders-he planted a honeyberry orchard in 2017, first harvesting in 2021. His family has cultivated the acres around the hamlet of Rhynd, Perth and Kinross, since 1892.

In preparation, Mr Hay travelled to Poland to meet farmers growing the crop there. The fruit of the honeysuckle Lonicera caerulea, the honeyberry is native to countries in the northern hemisphere, including Russia and Siberia. Growing conundrums included why Mr Hay's honeybees were giving these new berries the cold shoulder. It transpired that, despite their matching monikers, honeybees don't like honeyberries-or, rather, the wintry weather the berries thrive in, preferring to idle until later crops are ready for pollinating "We now buy in bumblebees,' says Mr Hay.