Thought of the Day

My Huckleberry Prayer

Dear God,

You gave me the knowledge, resources and desire to plant these seeds. I pray that you will help them grow to your glory. And thank you for making huckleberries, we love them.

Amen

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

My Love of Huckleberries

Every year for at least the last eight years, my family and I spend some time up in Estes Park. We've also been to Yellowstone on one occasion. Something that has always caught my eye in the souvenir shops is the vast array of huckleberry products. Well, last year, I finally caved and bought a packet of huckleberry hot chocolate. I was enthralled at the flavor that the berries added to the chocolate and I have been hooked ever since.
My biggest problem has been that as much as I like huckleberry products, they often cost more than I would like to pay for. Also, the only place I can find huckleberry products (barring buying them online) are in tourist shops. So I have decided to try to grow my own huckleberries.
I have done some research and have found that wild huckleberries and garden variety huckleberries are two very different things. Garden huckleberries seem easier to grow and bloom fruit right off the bat whereas wild ones are a little more difficult and don't produce fruit until 2-5 years after planting.(Barney 24) However, the two fruits taste very different.
I decided to go with wild ones for two reasons. The first one being that I know I like the flavor of the wild ones and would rather not be in for an unpleasant surprise if I don't like the flavor of garden ones. Also, for some reason, the only seeds I can find are wild ones. Also, if you want a more romanticized reason, wild ones are only found in specific areas and I think it would be nice if it were possible to make them more available.
So join me won't you in this exciting experience where I will attempt to grow huckleberries of the wild version in my own garden. I won't promise great results, but whatever results occur I will gladly share them with you.

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