Huckleberry Bush/Tree!!!

[valley ranch]

One of my best friends was a huckleberry ~well~truth be known~I wouldn't know a huckleberry if one bit me on the ear~there's a Huckleberry Road not far from the lower spread~leading off into the hills~no promise of them growing there~but I might go for a look see```

That brier that bay showed on her spread~I would have a fort built in there when I was a boy~you know to stop the enemy before they got too close to the livestock```

Bay's word pictures give a very real view of the time and place~together with the photos~well~I'm sure I was there at breakfast~at that table~more than once```

 

[baymule]

My huckleberries can't be the Vaccinium variety, the link @Ridgerunner posted says that it is an evergreen and the leaves are leathery and have serrated edges.

The leaves on my huckleberry bush remind me of a crepe myrtle leaf, are not serrated and they are not an evergreen. The huckleberries growing on our place make small trees. What I am reading says that huckleberries are small, 2-3 feet tall.

I went digging for an answer and I think I found it. What is growing on our place is Vaccinium Arboreum.

#18

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0021.pdf

 

[LocoYokel]

I went digging for an answer and I think I found it. What is growing on our place is Vaccinium Arboreum.

#18

Farkleberries! I have heard of those however I always thought it was a non-cuss cuss word... who knew?

 

[thistlebloom]

The term huckleberry is used as a common name. The berries we call huckleberries up north are an entirely different plant than what are called hucks in other regions. (I guess I'm just rephrasing what others have pointed out.)

Personally I don't think they should be sold commercially. These days the huck patches have been invaded by non locals who use big rake type pickers to harvest quickly, damaging the bushes enough that it will probably take a few seasons for them to be productive again. But what do they care? They don't live here and can sell them for high profit.

 

[baymule]

I never heard of farkleberries until I started looking for huckleberries.

 

[baymule]

I made a small jar of jam today! I have picked a few at a time as they ripened. I didn't use pectin, just sugar. The jam has the berry skins and seeds, just as I remembered my Grandmother making. And the taste! It is so good. I ate a big spoon full.

 

[thistlebloom]

It's beautiful Bay!

 

[Nyboy]

Save it for breakfast Christmas morning,

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is one time it pay to be the cook, you can lick the spoon and bowl.

 

[baymule]

This is one time it pay to be the cook, you can lick the spoon and bowl.

I scraped the bowl and then got every last bit running my finger around the bowl and licking my finger.