Fruits of labor: Cool spring proving beneficial for mountain huckleberry crop
GALLATIN CANYON — This much is certain: You can count on a sore back, purple fingers and tight hamstrings if you’re out picking during the height of huckleberry season.
And if your willpower is prone to wavering, you can add a purple face to that list, too.
August is prime time for gathering huckleberries in the hills around the Gallatin Valley. A little sweat and few sore muscles are a small price to pay.
“I treat huckleberries like purple gold,” said Nichole Joyce of Bozeman. “They take a long time to gather, but they are one of my favorite berries. The first few times you go picking you get a little sore, but it goes away.”
The mountain huckleberry is a deciduous, low-lying shrub with small, sweet berries that typically ripen in Montana during August. The berries are red or purple and grow individually or in small groups. The plants are between one and four feet high, so you spend most of your time hunched over while picking.
Huckleberries are often found in areas with scattered trees. They prefer a moist soil and often grow in spots that have historically burned.
“Huckleberries are widely scattered in our area,” said Whitney Tilt, author of the recently released book, “Flora of Montana’s Gallatin Region.” “The berries don’t hang around long. There is a lot of competition out there for them. If you wait too long you are going to find the bushes have been picked pretty good.”
Tilt said huckleberries are an important food source for mountain grouse and squirrels. The berries are also a favorite of black and grizzly bears.
“The bears really target these berries as they prepare for hibernation,” Tilt said. “The biggest precaution to take (while you are picking) is to make sure the bears know you are there before you arrive so they are not startled and they have time to move away. At the same time, they know their favorite huckleberry patches and may not be eager to move.”
Joyce said she enjoys picking huckleberries and other wild edibles for the thrill of the hunt. There’s something exciting and satisfying about collecting locally foraged foods, she said.
Joyce said huckleberries can be found in Gallatin Canyon, Hyalite Canyon and the Bridger Mountains. On her blog, www.borninthewrongcentury.com, she shares several of her favorite huckleberry recipes included one for huckleberry jam.
“I like to fill up my freezer with huckleberries to use in smoothies, pancakes, muffins, jam and other desserts,” Joyce wrote.
Joyce said the best way to preserve huckleberries, should you come across a particularly plentiful patch, is to freeze them on a cookie sheet in a single layer and then transfer them to a container.
Huckleberries are a lot of work to gather, but a taste of summer in the dead of winter is worth the effort.
“This is a good year for berries because of the cool, wet spring,” Joyce said. “There are a lot of berries out right now.”
Huckleberry muffins
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh huckleberries (if you use
frozen don’t let them thaw)
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup milk
Raw sugar for sprinkling on top
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray or butter and flour a 12-cup muffin tin. In a bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Place your huckleberries in a sieve. Place sieve over the flour mixture put enough of the flour mixture in the sieve to coat the huckleberries. Let the rest fall back into the bowl (this will keep the huckleberries from all being at the bottom of the muffin).
In another bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix completely. Mix in the vanilla and milk. Beat in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the flour coated huckleberries. Evenly distribute the batter between the 12 cups of the muffin tin. Sprinkle with raw sugar.
Bake the muffins until golden and the toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then tilt them onto their sides in the pan to cool completely.
Recipe courtesy Nichole Joyce.
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