The result of 2 hours of picking today at dusk. Man, I love these berries - they may be the most perfect berry that God ever created!!!

They are...I like regular huckleberries, but the big blue ones are to die for.

Fish on...

Todd

Marsha, my son's 18th birthday is tomorrow, then I've been invited to dinner and Bonnie Raitt up in Woodinville - so today I bake a pie. I hope to take one more trip for enough berries to make a few more pies. I love the lowland huckleberry (also know as the coastal huckleberry) but the mountain ones are incredible. When perfectly ripe they have a sweet and tangy taste that takes your tongue on a sleigh ride! They are small, so it takes about an hour (if you have a good patch) to pick enough for 1 pie.

Thanks for the reminder. I went up by Birley Mountain last year and picked about 4 1/2 gallons. Guess it is that time again. The jam is to die for.

Those looklike wild or mountain blueberries? I thought that huckleberries were pinkish/redish in color?

Fishmaster - they are mountain huckleberries growing at between 5 and 6,000 feet elevation. The pink/red ones are the coastal huckleberry. What I've heard is that the domestic blueberry was fashioned from the mountain huckleberry. There was something lost in the translation!

I prefer the reds myself, but I agree that the huckleberry could be the best berry ever.

Good info Marsha, what do the evergreens taste like? I have only had the mountains and the reds. The mountains are sweet and tangy, a perfect blend.

There are more than 2 dozen varieties of native huckleberries. I enjoy eating a handful of the coastal red ones from time to time, but mountain huckleberries are my favorite. And the big blue ones tend not to grow out in full sun, and are generally not as sweet as several of the little guy varieties.

Eddie,

I envy you. It takes me all day to pick enough hucks for a pie, and even then I might come up short. Something about big fumble fingers and tiny berries I guess.

Congrats! Good eats for sure!

Sg

it makes it harder if you eat one of every three you pick.

True that! I had to remind myself that as I was picking!

My wife was up at Tonga Ridge last week and picked atleast 3 gallons for jam and pies. She has made it a tradition to go up every year so we always have freezer jam and pies in waiting. Yummies!

Clever Aunty.