Huckleberries
8.04.2006 by Colee
It was decided that if mom and I were going to make raspberry jam this weekend, we needed huckleberries to put in it, so I was told to stop in the canyon on my way home and go huckleberry picking with my aunts. They have been camping/ berry picking since Wednesday.
For those of you not familiar with huckleberries, they are a sweet/tart berry that are worth their weight in gold. Ok, probably not gold, but something similar. They sell for about $30 a pint. If you can get someone to part with them, that is. Huckleberries are little. The biggest ones are about the size of a pea, and those are few and far between. They grow only in the wild (all transplanting efforts have failed) under the leaves on bushes that are about 1-2 feet tall, and are only in season for a couple of weeks.
The fact that they grow only in the wild prompts some very silly behavior. Little old ladies go to the grave with their huckleberry patch locations. I picked for about 2 ½ hours before my attention span was completely gone, and I got about 5 cups worth of berries. Seriously, 5 cups! The sad part is that is a respectable amount of berries compared to the time I spent there. Now you know why my aunts have been there for 3 days.
All I can say is that if someone gives you something made with huckleberries that they picked – they are in love with you. Either that, or they are sadistic. It could go either way, really… I am pretty sure my back is going to hate me for days.
Tonight mom and I made raspberry-huckleberry jam. Yeah, I’m a canner…I am cool like that. The rest of the berries are getting put in the freezer to be used later in cakes, cobblers, and other assorted berry needing items.
I am rather proud of the jam though, so next time you are over, ask me for some toast and you can try it :)
For those of you not familiar with huckleberries, they are a sweet/tart berry that are worth their weight in gold. Ok, probably not gold, but something similar. They sell for about $30 a pint. If you can get someone to part with them, that is. Huckleberries are little. The biggest ones are about the size of a pea, and those are few and far between. They grow only in the wild (all transplanting efforts have failed) under the leaves on bushes that are about 1-2 feet tall, and are only in season for a couple of weeks.
The fact that they grow only in the wild prompts some very silly behavior. Little old ladies go to the grave with their huckleberry patch locations. I picked for about 2 ½ hours before my attention span was completely gone, and I got about 5 cups worth of berries. Seriously, 5 cups! The sad part is that is a respectable amount of berries compared to the time I spent there. Now you know why my aunts have been there for 3 days.
All I can say is that if someone gives you something made with huckleberries that they picked – they are in love with you. Either that, or they are sadistic. It could go either way, really… I am pretty sure my back is going to hate me for days.
Tonight mom and I made raspberry-huckleberry jam. Yeah, I’m a canner…I am cool like that. The rest of the berries are getting put in the freezer to be used later in cakes, cobblers, and other assorted berry needing items.
I am rather proud of the jam though, so next time you are over, ask me for some toast and you can try it :)
