Living Large

[salmonchaser]

So this morning the girls decided to take me picking huckleberry up at 7000 feet. We had a great time, put up some grouse, both blues and ruffed. On the way down Catherine decided we should go pick some peaches. The huckleberry patch is 10 miles east of us. The peaches about the same distance going south west.
Halibut from our recent trip to Sitka for dinner with Potatoes out of the garden.
Desert is sliced peaches covered in huckleberry.
I am a lucky man.

 

[JD338]

An amazing meal for sure.

JD338

 

[JMRhino]

I would have bet those were blueberries. We don't have huckleberries in the southeast. Interesting.

 

[DrMike]

Living the dream!

 

[hunter24605]

Whoa! Now that’s some fine vittles.

 

[Wolfshead]

I would have bet those were blueberries. We don't have huckleberries in the southeast. Interesting.

I didn’t know there was a difference. Always thought that they were the same.
Nice having fresh fruit in season!

 

[JD338]

And for the final touch, huckleberry ice cream


JD338

 

[salmonchaser]

Blueberry are usually larger and more abundant where they grow. In Alaska we had blue berry all over in the Tundra this time of year. Scoop them up by the handful while hiking. Bears like them too. Huckleberry is labor intensive, harder to pick and find than blueberry.

 

[JD338]

Blueberry are usually larger and more abundant where they grow. In Alaska we had blue berry all over in the Tundra this time of year. Scoop them up by the handful while hiking. Bears like them too. Huckleberry is labor intensive, harder to pick and find than blueberry.

I remember doing that during my caribou hunt in Quebec Canada years ago.

JD338

 

[Firebird24]

Had peaches and blackberries off my own plants today.
Hope you can find those grouse again in a couple weeks, I bet even a spruce grouse in there somewhere!

 

[clearwater]

So this morning the girls decided to take me picking huckleberry up at 7000 feet. We had a great time, put up some grouse, both blues and ruffed. On the way down Catherine decided we should go pick some peaches. The huckleberry patch is 10 miles east of us. The peaches about the same distance going south west.
Halibut from our recent trip to Sitka for dinner with Potatoes out of the garden.
Desert is sliced peaches covered in huckleberry.
I am a lucky man.

The Glorious 12th (grouse season) doesn't start here till next month. We have to make do with a bear hunt and picking huckleberries. No bears yet but the berries are better than I've ever seen. Easily a gallon an hour with 3 or 4 berries in a cluster. And Peaches! You remind me we have a local place called "Peachcrest" gonna have to visit.

 

[Blkram]

Depends on where you are...
In our neck o' the woods, huckleberries are usually larger than the blueberries, and we have multiple species of each throughout BC and our corner of the province.

We have a lowbush blueberry that grows on a short plant that barely gets over 4" tall. More work to pick, but very tart and tasty! (Then there's the crow berry which is similar, on a similar plant; darker purple in colour, but usually only found in the alpine or further north in the open tundra.)
Then we have a blueberry that most consider low bush, that are usually on a bush about a foot or so tall. And then have a highbush blueberry, usually found in the mountains. These are usually bigger. The two latter species on a good year can be picked at about 3 gallons/hour by a good picker.

There are a low and a high bush huckleberry, in red and the regular dark purple. The low bush variety is usually about 1-2' tall, where the high bish can be 6-8' tall (usually found in the coastal mountains, such as near Bella Coola. Again, on good years, a good picker can pick a gallon in 15-20 minutes. My favourite berries!

Our blueberries are sparse and very small this year. The huckleberries faired better and are of a good size, but depending on the rain the patch received, are a little more plentiful. We have a couple of gallons so far. My Mom and her husband found some ok patches on the other side of the mountains and got 4 gallons on Tuesday.