A tree seed nursery north of Prince Albert, Sask., that was one of the casualties of the collapsing forestry industry is getting a new lease on life as a fruit orchard.
In the late 1970s, Weyerhaeuser built the nursery to collect spruce and pine tree seeds.
The seeds were used to replace the trees the company was logging for Prince Albert's local pulp and paper mill.
When the mill shut down several years ago, however, so did the nursery.
Now, it's been purchased by local farmer Curtis Braaten.
Braaten wants to grow apples, sour cherries and haskap berries on 16 hectares of land.
Haskap berries, also known as honeyberries, are prized in Japan for their medicinal properties, he said.
Rather than cutting the cutting the seed trees down, Braaten plans to save them for when the forest sector rebounds.
"As long as I'm still around, nothing will happen to that orchard except for maintenance and maybe some sales," he said.
Amid forestry slump, Sask. farmer tries berries
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