Montana Woods N Water July 2016 Print Edition | Page 36

THE ROOT CELLAR CONTINUED
The berries can be found on small 2-4 foot bushes, if there is enough of them you will be able to smell them from your truck seat. They can
range in size from the size of a very small pea to a large blueberry. Depending on the weather conditions the season can come and go before
you know it…so don’t delay. When you start seeing huckleberries for sale on Facebook or on local bulletin boards you better get to picking.
Between the bears, birds and other pickers they go pretty fast. Sometimes the berries ripen from the lowest elevation to the highest so you
may have to move up the mountain a little higher each week.
For a good patch where you can pick a bucket full you might have to go a little further than the edge of the road. Watch for purple bear scat
and you are in the money…but you are also in the bears dining room so be “Beary” careful. You may have to roll a few leaves back to find
them but once you find that motherlode…the picking is on. My problem is I have to sample about every other handful so it takes me longer
to pick a gallon than most. There are tools sold on the Internet to aid in your picking and make it faster than picking each berry by hand.
However, huckleberries as best picked by hand to keep from damaging the bushes, plus a berry picking tool will catch a lot of unripen berries,
leaves and twigs. Purple fingers may follow but the stained fingers are well worth it. Just keep your hand in your pocket until is wears or
rubs off…you don’t want to tilt your hand that you have been in a good huckleberry patch.
Huckleberry picking is a tradition here in NW Montana. Entire families and trucks loaded with friends will head to the mountains in search of
the holy grail of berries. A few years ago Steve and his wife Patty Pardee of Plains, MT introduced Pam and I to this wonderful mountain
adventure and I have loved it ever since. Steve has since passed onto the other side but he is never forgotten each time I sit in a huckleberry
patch munching on a handful of Huckleberries. The first handful is always in memory of Steve.
So now you are back home with your very hard earned bucket of berries, what next? Pour them into a large bowl and cover them with water
and stir very gently with your hand. The leaves and stems will float to the top. Just skim the debris off the top of the water. Do this process
about 2-3 times (changing water each time) and you should have some pretty clean berries. Next, pour the water off and remove any gr een/
unripe berries or bad berries. Any berries that are not completely purple don’t worry they will taste absolutely great this winter when mixed
with plenty of ripe ones.
If you don’t have time to go right into canning or preserving them
simply place them on a cookie sheet (single layer) and place them in
your freezer for about 20 mins. It doesn’t matter if they are still wet,
they won’t stick together. Remove from freezer and place in a gallon
freezer bag and refreeze for later use.
In the first paragraph of this article we told you the many ways
huckleberries and other berries can be used. Since it is summer the
first choice is a thick Huckleberry milk shake but another favorite of
mine is Lemon Huckleberry Sour Cream Pound Cake (see recipe on
page 35). Throw a little Huckleberry ice cream over this and you are
as close to heaven as you will get on this earth.
In all seriousness be aware that bears love Huckleberries too and you
may encounter a bear when scouting or picking berries. Simply back off
and let them have the patch. Just be aware of your surroundings when
your head is down picking any kind of berries.
If parking along the side of a road please be courteous and leave room
for others and emergency vehicles. Use your manners, refer to Chuck
Stranahan’s Fly Fishing article on page 20, titled Stream Etiquette –
Kindergarten Style. The same rules apply to berry picking. Do not
trespass on private property without permission. Have fun and get out
there and find you some Montana purple gems, start “Living The
Dream” Montana style.

34