Where can a person (easily) go about obtaining fresh huckleberries these days?
I live in metro-Detroit. It would be great if there were a store that carried them, near me. But I wouldn’t be opposed to getting them via U.S. mail, if that is possible.
Also, can a person just go out and pick them, somewhere? Forgive my apparent naïvité. But I have been a city slicker all my life. So I just honestly don’t know.
Finally, this is going to sound ironic to ask. But what exactly are huckleberries? Are they just basically blue berries? I get ambiguous answers to this question, in cookbooks and other media that I consult.
Love huckleberries. Parents would take us picking but we kids would eat most of our “catch.” This was in the mountains of Idaho. They would ripen at different elevations at different time. We used these rakes made out of plastic jugs to make the job easier but that’s neither here nor there as they’ve been banned because of the damage they do to the plants. They’ve resisted domestication so far though the University of Idaho is working hard on it.
They’re fantastic. Very similar to blueberry but with a more intense flavor. Sweeter and tarter at the same time. I would suggest looking around in specialty stores in your area before going on the Internet to mail order some. It has to be less expensive.
My parents have huckleberry bushes (up in the mountains of NE Pennsylvania), and huckleberry pancakes are a delight. As noted, while they’re similar to blueberries they’re smaller and more flavorful. I’ve never seen them for sale at stores though.
And also as noted, the main challenge is collecting them without succumbing to the temptation to eat them all while you’re picking.
Come on up to the UP. We call 'em blueberries up here, but I suspect they’re what you’re talking about. It’s a great year for them, and they’re being sold at the Farmer’s Markets (you have to get there early though, they sell out fast.)
You can also pick your own, but you’d have to know where to look, and most people don’t want to give out their good spots.
They grow wild on some of the trails in and around the SF Bay area. When we lived around Berkeley we would snack on them during evening hikes. They are very similar to blueberries, but smaller and not as sweet.
Up in Washington you can get 2 kinds, the ones that look like blue berries grow in the mountains, and the ones that grow in much of the forests of western Wa that are pink. The Pink ones I call natures sour patch kids and are great in pancakes/cornbread.
When I was a kid (early/mid '60s) we’d go to a church somewhere up around Lake St Helen. We kids would go out and pick huckleberries while the grownups were doing whatever.
