will huckleberries grow in MA?

mamagardener

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Ever since my husband went to Montana last year and brought home some huckleberry jam my son loves it. The problem is you can't find it here, and it cost a lot to buy online.

I was wondering if huckleberries will grow in Central MA? If so would it be worth it? Would it be easy to get enough to make jam, or would it take a lot of berries to make one jar?
 

NurseNettie

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I have no idea, but wanted to let you know that I've got garden huckleberries that I started from seed, and have planted in my garden right now- first year trying.
I'm in Northern Maine, zone 4b. I'll try to let you know what happens once the season ends!
As far as making "one jar" of jam or jelly-- most recipes make 7 or 8 half pint jars, and isn't based on number of berries, but quantity of juice. I don't know the juice contents of huckleberries, so not sure how much you'd need to create the 4 to 8 cups of juice recipes call for- but it'd be a bunch, I'm sure. I also dont' know how many berries a plant will have- it'll all be interesting to find out in a few months.

mamagardener said:
Ever since my husband went to Montana last year and brought home some huckleberry jam my son loves it. The problem is you can't find it here, and it cost a lot to buy online.

I was wondering if huckleberries will grow in Central MA? If so would it be worth it? Would it be easy to get enough to make jam, or would it take a lot of berries to make one jar?
 

digitS'

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Huckleberries are from my neck of the woods, so I should know something about this . . .
:idunno

Garden huckleberries are an annual and in an entirely different family from the huckleberries in the Rockies. Here are some "huckleberries" from Raintree Nursery. None of them are likely to be what was in that jar from Montana. The huckleberries in the mountains around here are the Vaccinium membranaceum.

Every ten years or so, we hear how researchers are trying to grow those huckleberry bushes at lower elevations. The University of Idaho had decided to close down its efforts to grow them near Sandpoint, which is about at 2,000 feet. That was the last I heard, anyway. First I heard of the efforts was about 7 years ago. I'm not sure if they made any headway.

They aren't a domesticated crop. I don't even think you can buy the plants - probably find someone who would dig one up at 4,000+ feet where they grow. That would probably be illegal and the guarantee would probably be that they wouldn't produce berries.

I know folks who harvest them and sell at the farmers' market. I admire them greatly. For me, the bushes are always on an incredibly steep slope and there's just a tiny handful of berries on each plant. I have spent hours to come up with a cupful!

Huckleberries have real problems at lower elevations. Maybe that won't always be the case but even up where they are supposed to grow, I understand that the nursery at Glacier National Park, has found them to be difficult.

There are other berries that may be of interest to your son. I was given a jar of Tayberry jam for my birthday :). It was very good! Tayberries are in the blackberry family and were developed in Scotland, I've learned. You may want to look at Lingonberries. They are related to huckleberries. Raintree has those, also.

Steve
 

the lemon tree

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digitS' said:
You may want to look at Lingonberries. They are related to huckleberries. Raintree has those, also.

Steve
Yes! I first was introduced to lingonberries through my Swedish husband via a jar of lingonberry jam purchased from IKEA. Very similar to the cranberry,that is, somewhat tart, they're delicious when used to make syrups, compotes, and jam. I bought two plants in the spring from Raintree-they haven't shown a lot of growth, but that's a whole 'nother story.
 

desertcat

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A second to what Steve said.

My dad lives just outside Glacier Park (MT) and has been trying for close to 20 years to get transplants to grow in his yard. Really good huckleberry habitat from the human viewpoint. He has tried various methods of starting from seed, including some that don't EVEN bear thinking about...no luck. A ciouple of years ago, he gave up. The bushes that survived have never produced, won't even flower. :hit

Of course, to look on the bright side, the failure has kept his yard from becoming Bear Central in the fall!
 

digitS'

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This is some information that isn't related to your question about huckleberries. But, I came across it trying to find out what this "Tayberry" was that was in my jar of jam :hu.

Marion, Logan, Boysen . . . I even came across the name "Wyeberry!" I had no real idea how they got any of these cultivated brambles and hadn't even seen the name of some of them :rolleyes:.

This 52-page pdf from Penn State University tells you everything you want to know about growing brambles. It is a guide to commercial production but the introduction, at least, covers some questions a person might have about what these things ARE!

Brambles

And, here is where that chapter on brambles comes from. I don't see anything on huckleberries but there are other berries, including blue.

The Mid Atlantic Berry Guide

Steve
 
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