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High summer ushers in the celebrated and fleeting huckleberry season in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest. Come mid-July, with the last of my precious huckleberry cache long gone, I’m eager to head to the mountains to gather this flavorful, sweet, tart, juicy, wild delicacy. Checking the timing of previous trips to my ‘secret patch’ in east-central Idaho, peak picking season is late July. Ever optimistic, I grabbed a couple of empty gallon jugs, my camera and binoculars, and headed to higher elevation to scope out this year’s crop.
Huckleberries are members of the Heath family (Ericaceae), which also includes the highly edible blueberry and cranberry. Dozens of species of huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.) grow on mountain slopes, in forests, and around lake basins in mountainous areas of western North America. The most common species in my neck of the woods is the thinleaf huckleberry (V. membranaceum). Thinleaf is found in moist, deep, well-drained soils on moderate slopes and rocky hillsides, preferring north exposures beneath a partially-closed forest canopy or in sunny openings. The forest where I pick is a mix of Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, and lodgepole pine. Thinleaf huckleberry forms the dominant understory, with grouse whortleberry (V. scoparium) – a dwarf huckleberry – and common beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) part of the mix.
Thinleaf huckleberry is a deciduous shrub ranging from 1 to 5 ft. in height with loose ascending branches and rhizomatous roots. Leaves are up to 2.5 inches long, oblong to ovate. Emerging in spring, the nodding, ½-inch pink or whitish-green flowers open singly from the leaf axils. The inverted urn-shaped flowers are highly specialized for pollination by long-tongued bees, such as bumble bees (Bombus spp.). The sticky pollen is shed from pores in the anthers onto the bodies of bees that “sonicate” (vibrate) the flowers. The video below shows bumble bees “buzz pollinating” blueberries, a cousin of the huckleberry.
If pollination is successful, a single plump, dark purple berry will develop in the leaf axil of new shoots. Fruits are often hidden below the foliage, so any good berry hunter knows to lift a stem to reveal the bounty beneath.
Once you start picking, you’ll notice variable fruit color and size among plants. I can’t claim that dark red vs. purple-black vs. blue-black berries are more delicious than the other, but I do know that larger berries fill the jug faster!
Many factors determine the quantity and quality of yearly fruit production, including depth and duration of the previous winter’s snowpack, drought, and cold or wet weather during critical phases of pollination and fruit development. Greater berry production occurs in soils high in organic matter, sites with greater moisture availability, and in forests with~50% tree cover. Peak productivity occurs on sites that have experienced disturbance (fire, logging, etc.) 20 to 50 years previously.
Humans aren’t the only critter after huckleberries. The fruit’s high sugar content and dense nutrients attract a wide range of wildlife frugivores including bears, coyotes, forest grouse, songbirds, and squirrels. It’s always a good habit to keep an eye out for visitors. A few years ago, a young black bear intruded on my patch (or rather I intruded on his). Bears love huckleberries; the fruits comprise up to 15% of the diet of grizzly bears in Glacier National Park, calories needed to store adequate fat reserves for their long winter torpor.
I can attest that canids love huckleberries. I stopped bringing my Labrador on picking trips after he slimed every huckleberry bush in sight gorging on berries. We also thought it better to keep him safe at home when we discovered several berry-laced wolf and coyote scats in the vicinity (pet dogs and wild canids are a risky mix). Apparently, coyotes are pretty good dispersal agents for huckleberries; they’re highly mobile and a single scat can pack up to 3,500 huckleberry seeds. These traits promote high levels of gene flow among huckleberry populations. If coyotes serve this important ecological function, gray wolves (with larger home ranges, greater dispersal capability) must be huckleberry seed dispersers on steroids.
The Sweet Rewards
Half of the reward of huckleberry picking is spending a carefree day high in the spruce-fir forest, listening to birds, admiring wildflowers, chasing butterflies, and just enjoying the scenery. My day picking was capped off with an impressive thunderstorm, chasing me out of the high country.
The other half of the reward is that first mouthful of huckleberry deliciousness, freshly prepared from your harvest. It’s hard to beat huckleberry muffins, hot from the oven. Huckleberry pancakes are a close second. Another favorite is a simple warm huckleberry compote spooned over vanilla ice cream. I’ve never indulged in making a huckleberry pie (takes so much of a precious resource!), but I imagine it would be heavenly. Perhaps my most inspired huckleberry recipe was an obscenely delicious trifle I made for Thanksgiving one year with layers of pound cake, mascarpone cream, lemon curd, and huckleberry compote.
For now, I leave you with a scrumptious huckleberry muffin recipe. Bon appétit!
Tommie’s Huckleberry Muffins
2 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
½ t. salt
1-½ c. huckleberries (fresh or frozen)
2 large eggs
1 c. milk or cream
½ c. sugar
4 T. melted butter
1 t. vanilla extract
1-2 t. lemon zest
Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a standard 12-muffin pan or line with paper cups. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and huckleberries in a large bowl. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk or cream, sugar, butter, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together with a few light strokes just until blended. Do not overmix; batter will be lumpy. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes and serve warm.
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