We had a good haul, and found a little meadow in the woods with absolutely massive berries. The cold spring this year made the berries come slower, but now that they are ripening they are good!!
Huckleberry season
- Thread starter Morja
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Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
What is the difference between blueberry and huckleberry?
Huckleberries are more tart and tend to be more purple than blueberries, though there are many types and they vary in color from nearly red to dark blue. They grow wild in the mountainous regions of the Pacific Northwest and cannot be cultivated, despite many attempts. Confusing things further, wild blueberries are sometimes called huckleberries in the Southeast (I believe), but in the PNW they are very different!
mrhappyrotter
Grand Chupacabra
I tried growing some huckleberries a year or few ago. They did not make it through the hot, dry part of our summer despite my attempts to keep them watered. At some point I'll try them again, maybe do more research to see if there are some which are more suited to the hot summers. I have no problems with blueberries, though, they seem to grow quite well around here as long as they aren't allowed to dry out too much.
Huckleberry bushes look so neat and to me are more attractive than blueberry bushes. Plus, huckleberry plants are evergreen (at least in warmer climates) and apparently they are more tolerant of shadier conditions.
Huckleberry bushes look so neat and to me are more attractive than blueberry bushes. Plus, huckleberry plants are evergreen (at least in warmer climates) and apparently they are more tolerant of shadier conditions.
Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
I have two types of wild blueberry growing in my woods, one dwarf and one tall. The tall bush looks very much like your huckleberry.
Tom-DE
Well-Known Member
I used to harvest the hardwood branches of the tall bush type for mounting orchids with great results.
I remember going on a hike in February, walking over snow drifts and looking down and seeing GREEN huckleberry bushes poking out from the snow and being horribly confused
They usually turn red/yellow here if they get cold enough, but those apparently held on.Neat that you gave it a try at least! Somebody somewhere has probably figured it out, like cypripediums.
I'm sure they are closely related! The only difference that is very noticeable to me is taste.
A few more "in situ" pics from family members of really good bushes (this time of year is a continuous texting conversation along the lines of "look what we found!").
On some bushes, the huckleberries tend to be under leaves, so in the first picture the branch is actually being bent backward to show the berries off best.
A few of these might be worthy of my father-in-law's term, "hucklecherries"!
On some bushes, the huckleberries tend to be under leaves, so in the first picture the branch is actually being bent backward to show the berries off best.
A few of these might be worthy of my father-in-law's term, "hucklecherries"!
Last year I stopped at a supermarket in Montana and a 1 gallon bag of huckleberries was $96 !
Also watch out for hungry bears!
Also watch out for hungry bears!
Yes, there are people here who make a living selling hucks in the summer, morels in the spring, and firewood in the fall and winter! Though there are fewer these days, as cost of living has skyrocketed.
