any of you freakin' jokers...

[RuMR]

...been huckleberry picking in der hillz lately?? are they in yet?

[Alpinfox]

 

Are you nizzutz? They been ripe fer da pickin fer weeks.

[RuMR]

yep...i know that...BUT you have to admit that there almost always is a one week period when every bush is loaded to the gills...

 

it was about this time last year...i got enough berries for 5 pies in about an hour of pickin...

[Alpinfox]

Best place I've been this season was the approach to North Twin Sister. That was huckleberry heaven, but that was about 3 weeks ago.

 

Can anyone here explain how to tell the difference between blue huckleberry, red huckleberry, and cascade blueberry? I've heard/seen different explanations.

 

If you want blackberries, can't beat the local Seattle parks: Discovery, Magnuson, Seward, greenlake, burke-gilman etc.

 

p.s. And why is it I see wild strawberry PLANTS everywhere, but NEVER see an actual STRAWBERRY?!??! Do the get them all when they are small/green?

[selkirk]

cascade blueberry's a ground plants, usually 6 to 8 inches tall, with a more, well blue-ish color, and often a little bigger than huckleberries. Only a few berries per plant but lots of plants. The red huckleberries i've only seen on the coast and in the lowlands. Typically long spindly bushs with low bery density, and low plant density. (Nice for the occasional one on the trail but to thin to pick seriously).

 

Now the Blue Huckleberry (actually more purple usually) is the shit! Usually at higher elevation (3k-5k?) In a good year, lots of berries lots of plants, and OMFG do they make great margaritas! Just don't spill the juice anywhere, i've seen that stuff stain tile.

 

Used to eat those things frozen by the bowl growing up!

 

Got a quite good and unexpected haul of mixed blueberries, and huckleberries up at Yellow Aster Butte this time last year. Who needs water when there's berries!

 

Now if you want a real treat track down some thimbleberries and eat a thimbleberry with a huckleberry inside..mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[catbirdseat]

Vaccinium ovatum = Evergreen Huckleberry (more common in olympics)

Vaccinium parvifolium = Red Huckleberry (very commonly seen on stumps)

Vaccinium alaskaense = Common cascade blueberry

Vaccinium mebranaseum =Black Huckleberry

 

If you want to look them up.

[Off_White]

Area around Pinto Rock and Pole Patch Campground in the southern Cascades is stellar car-access picking, sub alpine ridges with equidistant view of Ranier, Adams, and St. Helens. Do the sport route on the south end of Pinto Rock while you're there.

[texplorer]

A pretty crappy crop on Slesse this year. I guess the low rain year.

[catbirdseat]

Excellent crop of low bush berries on Stickney. Yum. Good blueberries have a tendency to slow one's progress, significantly.