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Garden Gate:  Huckleberry Help  |
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Amy Warwick
True Blue Farmgirl
102 Posts
Amy
Oakesdale
WA
USA
102 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 06:43:47 AM
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I just collected a gallon of huckleberries. My husband likes to eat them all winter long on vanilla ice cream. I am not a fan of ice cream (I know, I know, unAmerican!) I am looking for other ideas as to what to use them in.
Thanks!
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com |
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gramadinah
True Blue Farmgirl
3557 Posts
Diana
Orofino
ID
USA
3557 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 08:07:14 AM
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Muffins pancakes any thing you could but a berry in use them instead. I wish I could get a gallon or two. But I love the taste but no time to pick.
Diana
Farmgirl Sister #273 |
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4HMom
True Blue Farmgirl
720 Posts
Kelly
Montana
720 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 08:30:40 AM
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We make jam and/or jelly each summer. We LOVE warm huckleberry scones in the morning. Huckleberry "cobler" for an evening dessert. And if I'm lucky and have extras, I make a batch of huckleberry cordial for Christmas gifts 
"Be the change you want to see in the world" -Gandhi |
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Amy Warwick
True Blue Farmgirl
102 Posts
Amy
Oakesdale
WA
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2009 : 09:37:35 AM
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Loving the suggestions! I will have huckleberry pancakes in the morning...
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2009 : 08:30:54 AM
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OH, Amy. We need to talk! Lol. You like wine?
I did more reading last night...wow. Liv is something, isn't she?
We make a difference. |
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Contrary Wife
True Blue Farmgirl
2164 Posts
Teresa Sue
Tekoa
WA
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2009 : 12:21:07 PM
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One person I know, makes pie, but she mixes the huckleberries half and half with blueberries, that way you get the huckleberry flavor, but don't use all your huckleberries up in one pie.
Teresa Sue
Farmgirl Sister #316
Planting Zone 4
"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly." The Dalai Lama |
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Celticheart
True Blue Farmgirl
811 Posts
Marcia
WA
USA
811 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2009 : 1:20:28 PM
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I mix them half and half with apples for pies. It works the same way. Same flavor and doesn't use so many of my precious huckleberries.
It's not about being perfect, but enjoying what you do. Set aside time to be creative.
Robyn Pandolph
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Amy Warwick
True Blue Farmgirl
102 Posts
Amy
Oakesdale
WA
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2009 : 3:27:28 PM
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Wow. Great ideas. I was thinking of mixing in my raspberries, but I have lots of blueberries that we freeze for smoothies that my kids like to eat for breakfast before school. I am going to try both the blueberries and the apples. I had never thought of that. Thanks!
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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Cabinprincess
True Blue Farmgirl
682 Posts
Melody June
Athens
TX
USA
682 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2009 : 6:16:14 PM
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We have a Jalapeno jelly here in TX. It is sweet and hot, put on cream cheese and then spread on crackers. Soooooo good. I bet a gooseberry jelly with peppers in it would be really good that way. It could also be used as a spicy glaze for a pork tenderloin. Oh my now I'm hungry!! LOL
Smiles, Melody June
God's gift to you are your talents, your gift to Him is how you use them. |
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katmom
True Blue Farmgirl
17161 Posts
Grace
WACAL Gal
WashCalif.
USA
17161 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2009 : 09:49:22 AM
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Amy,
for sure....you need to touch base w/Michelle~huckleberrywine....that gal makes an awesome wine w/huckleberries?...
I wonder if they can be frozen, like I do w/my blueberries....to be used at a later date.
Oh & several MJF gals & I were in your neck of the woods yesterday,,,shopped till we dropped over at
"2 Hammers", had tons of fun. We did the Palouse in reverse and went from Rosalia to Oaksdale up to Rockford to shop @ Hurds Merchantile" then home to admire our wonderful "finds"....
>^..^< Happiness is being a katmom.
"I've never met a sewing machine I didn't like!"
www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://www.graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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Contrary Wife
True Blue Farmgirl
2164 Posts
Teresa Sue
Tekoa
WA
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2009 : 12:34:23 PM
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Yes, huckleberries freeze wonderfully, all ready to use in muffins, pancakes, etc.
Teresa Sue
Farmgirl Sister #316
Planting Zone 4
"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly." The Dalai Lama |
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rachreymack
Farmgirl in Training
16 Posts
Rachael
Moscow
Idaho
USA
16 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2009 : 2:32:05 PM
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I was just going to post this exact same topic. We picked about a gallon yesterday. I'm pretty sure we'll make some jam, and freeze some as well.
I would love to know how to make huckleberry wine. I've never done anything like it before. Is that something that I could do at home/in a basic kitchen?
Rachael
Farmgirl Sister# 614 |
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AlyssaMarie
True Blue Farmgirl
287 Posts
AlyssaMarie
Palouse
Washington
USA
287 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2009 : 8:26:42 PM
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I live on the Palouse and have been hearing for years about everyone going huckleberry picking but absolutely no one can tell me where to go to find some myself. Is this a closely guarded secret, or are they kept under lock and key - :) I know they grow wild but seriously... where? Will anyone share?
AlyssaMarie @ Link'd Hearts Ranch
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katmom
True Blue Farmgirl
17161 Posts
Grace
WACAL Gal
WashCalif.
USA
17161 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2009 : 10:20:34 PM
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good question AlyssaMarie,,,,
I don't know either but I am gussin' probablly in wooded areas... When I lived in New Britian Conn., Blueberries grew wild in the woods...so I am guessin maybe the same holds true for Huckleberrys.....what do you think Michelle-huckleberrywine!!!??? lol!
>^..^< Happiness is being a katmom.
"I've never met a sewing machine I didn't like!"
www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://www.graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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bevibrant
Farmgirl in Training
43 Posts
Kayla
Potlatch
IDAHO
USA
43 Posts |
Posted - Jul 27 2009 : 04:48:54 AM
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AlyssaMarie We picked 4 gallons last night up on the Palouse divide, (no secret here). Head on out through Potlatch, past Harvard up White Pine Drive. At the very top turn left and stay on the main road, (don't take the lower roads but keep going up). About 5-10 minutes in, around the 4 mile marker you'll come to an open saddle full of huckleberry brush.
My favorite way to eat huckleberries is in oatmeal with a little maple sugar and butter!
Kayla Howard
Farmgirl Sister #588
www.bevibrant.us |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Jul 27 2009 : 08:49:41 AM
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I've heard nightmare stories of whole bus-loads of people picking a patch out as professionals. And I've come upon whole bushes torn out so pickers could sit in the shade to pick them. With all that, and at $50/per gallon, it is sad, but I can understand keeping places secret.
Wine is easy to make, as in the steps are basic. It is time-consuming and expensive, unless you grow your own produce. It helps to know how to can. Similar, in that there are steps to follow, everything needs to be sterile, and it is a way to preserve and enjoy when you have a bumper crop of something. Different, because the steps are done over time. My batch of huckleberry wine going now took a day of picking per gallon, 1 day to measure, mix, etc. The next day I added the yeast, and then twice a day for 10 days I stir it. Then 40 min. to strain it, siphon it then into a jug and fit a bubbler on (device that keeps oxygen out and allows gasses to escape). Then, once a month I'll siphon the clear liquid off, leaving sediment, into another jug, for about a year. Finally, it is ready to chill (to kill any remaining yeast and not pop the cork out of the bottles unexpectedly...I have a funny little mark in my kitchen ceiling to remind me.) and bottle. For huckleberry, it is then ready to enjoy. For others, like plum, it then needs about 3 years to age in the bottle before maturing into something really special. And you need a dark, stable temp. place to store all these jugs and bottles of wine in varying stages of progress. Yeah, it really is easy, but a bit fussy, I guess. I've gotten used to it, so it seems easier now. I guess I just forget to think of how fussy it is.
Huckleberry wine, for example. It takes a gallon of berries to make a gallon of wine, which will give you 5 bottles. No cutting with apples here. It will throw off your whole recipe/the chemistry required to let the wine yeast turn sugars into alcohol, preserving the flavors, and leading to something you can drink and enjoy, instead of leading to a syrupy mess that might be rotten and certainly not a pleasure. I suppose if you wanted to make a separate apple wine, then blend the two when you are done in about a year, it could be done to stretch your berry harvest/purchase. But as for me, I'd rather just have two wines, pure huckleberry and pure apple. Making wine is going to cost you time, and perhaps money, but if you enjoy any handmade anything, then you understand the value and love that goes into the process and adds to your enjoyment of the product.
Eek. That sounds awful! It really isn't that bad. You do get used to it. And it really is nice to sit and enjoy something really good with really good company. :)
We make a difference. |
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AlyssaMarie
True Blue Farmgirl
287 Posts
AlyssaMarie
Palouse
Washington
USA
287 Posts |
Posted - Jul 27 2009 : 09:41:11 AM
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Thanks ladies! I've been looking for something fun to take my family to do and I thought they might like this. We planted blueberry and raspberry and blackberry bushes in our new garden but its going to take a couple years for those to get going. I thought wild huckleberries would be yummy while we wait.
AlyssaMarie @ Link'd Hearts Ranch
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katmom
True Blue Farmgirl
17161 Posts
Grace
WACAL Gal
WashCalif.
USA
17161 Posts |
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Amy Warwick
True Blue Farmgirl
102 Posts
Amy
Oakesdale
WA
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - Jul 27 2009 : 10:06:40 AM
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Michelle,
thank you! I made a huckleberry peach pie and it was FANTASTIC! I just made a peach pie and added 1/2 cup of huckleberries. The syrup came out a light, light pink color. My family loved it.
As avid wine drinkers, I am excited to make the huckleberry wine. Thanks for sharing! Can you enlighten me on where to get the products, like the bubbler?
AlyssaMarie.
I will share with you as well. The closely guarded secret part is just because it is so much fun to mess with our girlfriends! I pick up on Cemetery Ridge on the St. Joe and friends of mine pick gallons at LAIRD park. You can basically find them anywhere you find a wooded area. It took me a while to get a good eye for them, but now I can spot them from a driving car. It's kind of like hunting for Morel Mushrooms, you do get an eye for it eventually.
Best of luck...
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Jul 27 2009 : 4:47:18 PM
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Huckleberries make everything better. :) We put some on salmon last night. Am I drooling on the keyboard? Oops. :) Might try making a huckleberry/basil vinegar too.
Let's see, you can get any specialty wine-making gear online, or the closest place to us is on Division in Spokane (Jim's Home Brew) across from The General Store. Neat store. And they are so nice. Not wine-snobby at all. Just interested in helping you enjoy this hobby.
Grace, you are a kick!
We make a difference. |
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Amy Warwick
True Blue Farmgirl
102 Posts
Amy
Oakesdale
WA
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - Jul 31 2009 : 08:35:01 AM
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Michelle,
Thank you for the help. This sounds like a hobby I would enjoy. And hucks on the salmon, FABULOUS!
Amy
For information on SUMMER SNOW please visit www.amywarwick.com
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it ~Aristotle
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maggie14
True Blue Farmgirl
6784 Posts
Hannah
Washington
USA
6784 Posts |
Posted - Jul 31 2009 : 9:34:33 PM
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One day my sister made pancakes with huckleberry sauce on them!! It was very good! Do you think blackberrys and huckleberrys put together would make a good pie?
Maggie |
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Sheep Mom 2
True Blue Farmgirl
1534 Posts
Sheri
Elk
WA
USA
1534 Posts |
Posted - Jul 31 2009 : 9:45:39 PM
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I make dipped chocolates every Christmas and I always make one with a huckleberry cream center dipped in white chocolate. It's all the kids favorites. They call it "ice cream" candy.
Blessings, Sheri
"Work is Love made visible" -Kahlil Gibran |
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maggie14
True Blue Farmgirl
6784 Posts
Hannah
Washington
USA
6784 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2009 : 09:34:23 AM
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That sound so good Sheri!
Maggie |
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Garden Gate: Huckleberry Help |
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Huckleberry Help
