The harvest has begun for berries around the province, and local orchards have been a popular place to go to pick your own fruit. 

Berry Blossom Orchard is located northeast of Trossachs. One of the owners, Larissa Munchinsky said they have around six acres of saskatoon berries people can pick.  

“They're all different kinds, there's Martin, Theissen, Northline, and Smokey, and they're cultivated in their rows, so they're not a wild saskatoon.” said Munchinsky. “I don't know how many rows there are, I should count sometime.”   

Munchinsky says this is an activity you can do with your whole family.   

“When I think of berry picking, I think of all of my childhood experiences of going with my grandma and just the memories that are made out here. There’s been a lot of grandmas who bring their grandkids out or just families who come out for an afternoon. It's something you can do while the kids are off school.” 

Paul Martin is a partner in TeMara Orchard, which is located south of Osage. He said it has been a good year for them.  

“The berries were big, they were plump, certainly larger than the ones that I saw in the wild,” said Martin. “With saskatoons, it's like every second year, no matter what you try, you get one good year then one not so good. Last year was not so good, two years ago outstanding, and this year is really quite good.” 

Martin said they started out with a few trees, and now have around 12 kilometers of trees.  

“We likely overdid it given the location. I mean if we were three miles outside of Regina or Saskatoon it would make a difference, but we're 30 minutes from Weyburn and an hour from Regina, so it's a little hard to attract people, but what we've done in exchange does make it very easy to pick and very attractive.” 

Find out more about Berry Blossom Orchard HERE, and find out more about TeMara Orchard HERE

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