Greetings again!
I had a chance to pick huckleberries near Clark Fork, Idaho on Saturday, with friends John & Gail Suhfras and their daughter Becky and hubby Josh.
Higher elevation huckleberries were very green, some berries just starting to get there, and quite large! According to John and Josh, the huckleberry crop at that elevation was not as good as years past.
We dropped lower, and got some pretty good berries at mid-elevation, on a south-facing ridge. Berries not quite as big as on top, overall, but much thicker. John took his first session of using a huckleberry rake and enjoyed the effort, finding them much less impactful on the huckleberry plants than he expected.
I had the chance to try out a new rake with plastic teeth, instead of the wire tines on the rakes I use. I could find no difference in performance, very nice. Next year we will be offering this model as well at one of our huckleberry rake web sites. Also, the manufacturer sent us a "kids" rake, sort of a cute miniature of the larger rakes, BUT with the same plastic rake tine shape and spacing as the larger plastic tine rake. I did not get a chance to try it out yet, but it looks like it will be a winner. Just not sure you can get young people to use it. I think the rake is probably suitable for grade school age children. Not sure yet if we will offer the rake, but it probably is a nice touch for family outings. Give me a holler if you think you have an interest in the huckleberry rake model for your kids or grandkids, and we will consider inventorying them.
My buddy Roy from Harrison, Idaho also had a down report on the huckleberry crop, after a fairly rich early forecast. Berries are much sparser than last year on higher ridgetops, still pretty green, and with the dry summer, even ripe huckleberries are starting to show a little stress.
Future posts will include some advance tactics on using a huckleberry rake AND "My First Huckleberry Picking Trip", down nostalgia lane from 1976.
Happy picking!
Malcolm Dell
PS We are working on a community association membership website for huckleberry lovers... stay tuned!
Showing posts with label huckleberry crop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label huckleberry crop. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Predicting BUMPER Huckleberry Crop in 2008!
I got reports the last two days, from people in three locations in the Idaho Panhandle, and I am predicting A BONKERS BUMPER CROP of wild huckleberries. Maybe the best since 1994, perhaps even better.
Roy from the Coeur d'Alene area says the huckleberry crop is still mostly green, but ripening. At the lowest elevations of wild huckleberry habitat on the south facing slopes, huckleberries are mostly just getting ripe, and are BIG! Mid elevation, most plants have some ripe berries, but not as sweet as they will get, but most huckleberries still on the green side of things. At the higher elevations, berries are still pretty much green, but LOTS OF THEM!
Overall the crop is FULL THREE WEEKS behind a normal year, with the heavy winter snows, that took so long to melt off, with the cool wet spring we had this year.
Gail from the Clark Fork area said her husband was out and found three different patches, at different elevations, each with some ripe huckleberries. Huckleberries were "big" at the higher elevations, and she is a true huckleberry hound, making lots of huckleberry goodies in her home kitchen.
If you've never gone huckleberry picking before, or if you've stayed home the last few years (especially 2007, one of the worst years on record), plan some time in 2008. Peak of the wild huckleberry harvest will be the first two weeks of August.
Also, for those of you thinking of using rakes, I just posted instructions on how to use a huckleberry rake, plus tips on managing your huckleberry picking foray. Check it out at Huckleberry Rake! Plus, I posted a couple photos from a huckleberry workshop, in Elk River, Idaho in 2005, with Dr. Dan Barney, Idaho's resident huckleberry expert, showing the group how to pick huckleberries with a huckleberry rake.
All for today. We will be out picking August 2 in the Clark Fork area, and August 8-10 in the Coeur d'Alene area.
Let me know what you would like to see in this blog!
Happy Huckleberry Picking!
Malcolm
Roy from the Coeur d'Alene area says the huckleberry crop is still mostly green, but ripening. At the lowest elevations of wild huckleberry habitat on the south facing slopes, huckleberries are mostly just getting ripe, and are BIG! Mid elevation, most plants have some ripe berries, but not as sweet as they will get, but most huckleberries still on the green side of things. At the higher elevations, berries are still pretty much green, but LOTS OF THEM!
Overall the crop is FULL THREE WEEKS behind a normal year, with the heavy winter snows, that took so long to melt off, with the cool wet spring we had this year.
Gail from the Clark Fork area said her husband was out and found three different patches, at different elevations, each with some ripe huckleberries. Huckleberries were "big" at the higher elevations, and she is a true huckleberry hound, making lots of huckleberry goodies in her home kitchen.
If you've never gone huckleberry picking before, or if you've stayed home the last few years (especially 2007, one of the worst years on record), plan some time in 2008. Peak of the wild huckleberry harvest will be the first two weeks of August.
Also, for those of you thinking of using rakes, I just posted instructions on how to use a huckleberry rake, plus tips on managing your huckleberry picking foray. Check it out at Huckleberry Rake! Plus, I posted a couple photos from a huckleberry workshop, in Elk River, Idaho in 2005, with Dr. Dan Barney, Idaho's resident huckleberry expert, showing the group how to pick huckleberries with a huckleberry rake.
All for today. We will be out picking August 2 in the Clark Fork area, and August 8-10 in the Coeur d'Alene area.
Let me know what you would like to see in this blog!
Happy Huckleberry Picking!
Malcolm
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