2013 Forest Products Report

[slowp]

Better than last year. I went scouting and ended up picking.

We had to walk an extra quarter mile. I had no saw and wouldn't have cut this anyway since I only had The Used Dog along and he hasn't figured out how to run a saw--yet.

View attachment 310022
The Used Dog on watch. He growled at something, once. We ran into some freshly torn up stumps, but no bear poopage.
View attachment 310023
What the ultra secret patch looks like.
View attachment 310024
Almost back to the Tomato. I could have parked closer but was feeling that etiquette should be observed so I did not block the road or the nearer turnout that was big enough to turn around in.
View attachment 310025
The results of today's scouting. The berries are back on schedule this year. They've been late the last two years. I'd say it was an OK year for this patch.
View attachment 310026

I really need to brush out that road. It is bad.

 

[roberte]

saws and pie mmmm

 

[slowp]

I got my quota and have finished picking today. We found a new place to go that so far has not been discovered by the migrant commercial pickers. It is next to a road and the brush is thick and 6 feet tall in places, which makes it quite pleasant the day after a major rain event.

Tomorrow will be a berry cleaning day. :msp_ohmy:

 

[madhatte]

I'm tellin' ya, look just south of Steilacoom and you'll find a honking patch that nobody pays any attention to. It's all the big, black evergreen huckleberry, tart and sweet. Anderson Island, too.

 

[slowp]

Why? We got em here. No ferry ride required or going into "Pugetropolis".:msp_ohmy:

 

[greendohn]

MMmmmmm!!! Looks delicious!

We have no huckleberries here, never even seen 'em. Are they more like a blueberry?

We do have the blackberries, raspberries and the very elusive "dew" berry.
My good wife makes pies, jams and syrup from 'em...my buddies make wine out of 'em.
What do you good people do with them outfits?,,( how do you eat 'em?)

 

[slowp]

They are related to blueberries. We call them Mountain Huckleberries. They grow at the higher elevations. We were picking at 4500 feet yesterday. There are other berries on bushes that are a lighter blue which we call blueberries. Those are quite sour which is a shame because those bushes are loaded.

Huckleberries are a traditional PNW delicacy and have been harvested by the first people in this area. They managed the forest for patches by setting off burns periodically to keep the trees from growing in. The best type of the berry grows well in full sun. There are others which will produce in the shade but are usually not as loaded with berries.

As clearcutting has come to a halt, there are getting to be fewer berries. The demand has grown with most folks not wanting to pick them, but wanting to eat them in ice cream, pies, cobblers, pancakes, or whatever. They are even ground up and made into vitamin supplements or put into hand creams which seems blasphemous to me. The last of the clearcuts done at the right elevation are filling in with trees. Unfortunately for us huckleberry fiends, there aren't many reforestation failures around here.

One keeps the locations secret. Once a commercial outfit discovers a place, they take vanloads of pickers there and they pick it clean. They keep close to roads, so I've usually had to find patches requiring a hike in. I've got one that I found by going cross country but it is so secret that I haven't been able to find it again unless I hike 2 miles in on a trail. It would be a much shorter hike if I could find my cross country/bushwacking route again.

There are guns pulled on each other by rival pickers. There are nasty things done by one ethnic group to another. Meanwhile, I hunt for new places--just like big game hunters, and try to keep enough stored to last until the next year. And I try to be discreet.

Unfortunately, we pickers are now not liked by the new thing happening at the same time--elk bow hunting. I guess we scare the elk away. But we were pickers before bow hunting became an in way to hunt and have to be out when the berries are ripe. I try to be quiet, but yesterday we took out a two year old and a three year old and gave them whistles to blow in case we lost them--which wasn't likely but they should have a way to get help. Like all little munchkins would do, the whistles were blown all morning. Oh well....

 

[treeslayer2003]

we have both huckleberry and wild blueberry, they usually grow in the same place on good ground under big oak trees. we have plenty of dew berrys, to many they are like briers and take over. no black or raspberry here. was a lot of wild strawberry but the no till spray practice has about wiped them out along the with winter crease. funny how things work different in other places, since clearcutting has slowed we have more of the wild berrys.

 

[paccity]

They are related to blueberries. We call them Mountain Huckleberries. They grow at the higher elevations. We were picking at 4500 feet yesterday. There are other berries on bushes that are a lighter blue which we call blueberries. Those are quite sour which is a shame because those bushes are loaded.

Huckleberries are a traditional PNW delicacy and have been harvested by the first people in this area. They managed the forest for patches by setting off burns periodically to keep the trees from growing in. The best type of the berry grows well in full sun. There are others which will produce in the shade but are usually not as loaded with berries.

As clearcutting has come to a halt, there are getting to be fewer berries. The demand has grown with most folks not wanting to pick them, but wanting to eat them in ice cream, pies, cobblers, pancakes, or whatever. They are even ground up and made into vitamin supplements or put into hand creams which seems blasphemous to me. The last of the clearcuts done at the right elevation are filling in with trees. Unfortunately for us huckleberry fiends, there aren't many reforestation failures around here.

One keeps the locations secret. Once a commercial outfit discovers a place, they take vanloads of pickers there and they pick it clean. They keep close to roads, so I've usually had to find patches requiring a hike in. I've got one that I found by going cross country but it is so secret that I haven't been able to find it again unless I hike 2 miles in on a trail. It would be a much shorter hike if I could find my cross country/bushwacking route again.

There are guns pulled on each other by rival pickers. There are nasty things done by one ethnic group to another. Meanwhile, I hunt for new places--just like big game hunters, and try to keep enough stored to last until the next year. And I try to be discreet.

Unfortunately, we pickers are now not liked by the new thing happening at the same time--elk bow hunting. I guess we scare the elk away. But we were pickers before bow hunting became an in way to hunt and have to be out when the berries are ripe. I try to be quiet, but yesterday we took out a two year old and a three year old and gave them whistles to blow in case we lost them--which wasn't likely but they should have a way to get help. Like all little munchkins would do, the whistles were blown all morning. Oh well....

then there is the little reddish pink berries , call them hucks also.

 

[paccity]

 

[slowp]

then there is the little reddish pink berries , call them hucks also.

Yeah, I have a bush along the edge of my yard. For some reason, I can't bring myself to eat those. It just doesn't seem right.

 

[paccity]

Yeah, I have a bush along the edge of my yard. For some reason, I can't bring myself to eat those. It just doesn't seem right.

and why? there good to. just not as sweet as the purples.

 

[northmanlogging]

Ok I'm confused now...

I thought it was red/blue huckleberries and wild blue berries the huckleberries are tart and a touch sweat when extra ripe, the blue berries are sweat a little meally when over ripe and generally bigger?

Ma has blue huckleberries growing in the back yard, along with reds.

To get the blue berries you have to get over say 2000 ft and find a nice big clearing. I know of a few if their not overgrown... most of em are well off the beaten path one is gated off the last time I was out there.

 

[treeslayer2003]

really, not many places here much over 200 feet n we got blueberrys. high bush and low. low produces better.

 

[paccity]

the reds can go blue, we have a lot of reds in the coast range. the darker blue is a sub species that prefers higher alt. have both here mostly reds . all good berries as far i taste. the reds the last couple years have not been doing well.

 

[slowp]

We pick the blackish blue ones. They are sweeter.

I had some in my yard on the Oregon Coast. They were teenie tiny and sour. I ignored them and traveled up here to pick the ones that I like.
The last couple of years, the berries have been late, and not very sweet. This year they got back on schedule and taste good.

 

[northmanlogging]

Did I mention I'm a little color blind... esp with blue... the sweeter ones tend to grow in large patches and up higher have bigger leaves and berries too... the leaves turn a bit reddish? pink maybe?

 

[Gologit]

We pick the blackish blue ones. They are sweeter.

I had some in my yard on the Oregon Coast. They were teenie tiny and sour. I ignored them and traveled up here to pick the ones that I like.
The last couple of years, the berries have been late, and not very sweet. This year they got back on schedule and taste good.

All this talk about huckleberries made me hungry so I talked the wife into a huckleberry cobbler for dessert tonight.

Some nice lady in Lewis County gave me the huckleberries but they're all gone now. Hint hint.

 

[northmanlogging]

Uh ya know its a long drive and a short hike to any around here... they are free ish for the taking..

 

[madhatte]

Yeah, I pretty much graze all day during the summer. Can you blame me?