Sunday, July 31, 2011

Wild red huckleberries


Been picking huckleberries this weekend. We made jelly for the first time from berries we had picked over several days last week. Delicious, and we're really happy with our first ever jelly experience. It's a pain to pick a decent quantity, but these tart little jewels are sooo worth it. We found a huge bush today, and got 5 cups of berries off it (took us an hour to do so). I'm making another batch of jelly tomorrow, and will actually post a recipe for once, for anyone with the patience to pick these things. :) 8 cups of berries should give us 4 8-oz jars. Did I mention this stuff is extra yummy? I did? Ok. Just checking.

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

5 comments:

Lindsey at NW Backyard Veggies said...

I totally want to go huckleberry picking down by Mt. St. Helens - in those giant fields that the forest service cultivates. I think you have to pay a fee to park or something, but you can pick as much as you can carry (there's a limit - like don't pick a metric ton or something like that - to keep out the business people).

I can't wait for your recipe!

Miriam said...

Huckleberry jelly - how wonderful! I feel like an idiot for only recently figuring out all those bushes on our property are huckleberry. I think our chickens figured it out a long time ago. They eat the berries like they're candy - the ones they can reach, that is - and then Hector, who's the biggest, jumps up to pull more off and drops them for the hens. What a nice rooster.

Lana from Farm Life Lessons said...

I love every kind of berry imaginable! Sounds like you had fun and are learning more about how to make it last by making jelly. Wonderful! On our land, we love the blackberries, but we eat them as fast as we can pick them. I'd like to learn how to make blackberry jam. Maybe this year...

Heidianne said...

MMMmmmm!Your industriousness inspires me, I need to pick my boysenberries and make some jam, but work in the shop sucks up my time. Jam is fun to make, you just need some time and some good tunes on the radio while you work. Oh, and having a proper jar lifter for the hot water bath helps..:)

Robin said...

I love Huckleberries. Those berries on the bush look huge too!