Huckleberry Bush/Tree!!!

valley ranch

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 22, 2014
Messages
5,742
Reaction score
5,724
Points
367
Location
Sierra Nevada mountains, and Nevada high desert
One of my best friends was a huckleberry ~well~truth be known~I wouldn't know a huckleberry if one bit me on the ear~there's a Huckleberry Road not far from the lower spread~leading off into the hills~no promise of them growing there~but I might go for a look see```

That brier that bay showed on her spread~I would have a fort built in there when I was a boy~you know to stop the enemy before they got too close to the livestock```

Bay's word pictures give a very real view of the time and place~together with the photos~well~I'm sure I was there at breakfast~at that table~more than once```
 

baymule

Garden Master
Joined
Mar 20, 2011
Messages
18,331
Reaction score
34,488
Points
457
Location
Trinity County Texas
My huckleberries can't be the Vaccinium variety, the link @Ridgerunner posted says that it is an evergreen and the leaves are leathery and have serrated edges.

The leaves on my huckleberry bush remind me of a crepe myrtle leaf, are not serrated and they are not an evergreen. The huckleberries growing on our place make small trees. What I am reading says that huckleberries are small, 2-3 feet tall.

I went digging for an answer and I think I found it. What is growing on our place is Vaccinium Arboreum.

#18

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0021.pdf
 

thistlebloom

Garden Master
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
16,473
Reaction score
17,394
Points
457
Location
North Idaho 48th parallel
The term huckleberry is used as a common name. The berries we call huckleberries up north are an entirely different plant than what are called hucks in other regions. (I guess I'm just rephrasing what others have pointed out.)

Personally I don't think they should be sold commercially. These days the huck patches have been invaded by non locals who use big rake type pickers to harvest quickly, damaging the bushes enough that it will probably take a few seasons for them to be productive again. But what do they care? They don't live here and can sell them for high profit.
 

baymule

Garden Master
Joined
Mar 20, 2011
Messages
18,331
Reaction score
34,488
Points
457
Location
Trinity County Texas
I made a small jar of jam today! I have picked a few at a time as they ripened. I didn't use pectin, just sugar. The jam has the berry skins and seeds, just as I remembered my Grandmother making. And the taste! It is so good. I ate a big spoon full.

IMG_2173.JPG
 

Latest posts

Top