Huckleberry Heaven

Our property is full of vegetation. The forests here are thick with undergrowth, and in some places on our land it's so thick you can't walk through it.

Salal and huckleberry bushes are all around us, and I think they are beautiful. I use stems of each in my bouquets.

But, I anxiously waited for the huckleberries to ripen. I have some fond memories of gathering huckleberries with my mom a couple of years before she died. We went out across the county line and found some untouched land with lots of bushes. We filled up our buckets and went home determined to make some huckleberry jelly. It is so delicious.

We had recently bought some for a high price, and decided we could just as easily make our own. When we began to pick the small stems off, rinse the berries, and clean them over and over again, we realized why the jelly was so expensive.

Our plans for giving large jars of huckleberry jelly to everyone for Christmas were reduced to very small, treasured jars for everyone.

Knowing what I was up against, I set out to pick a basket full of huckleberries one day last week.

It had been a very busy day, and I needed to just get outside in the peace and quiet of the forest. I used up my time picking, and knew there was no way I'd have time to make jelly once I got those berries cleaned.

I went to a different plan, and decided to use them in pancake batter for the morning.

I can't even begin to describe how delicious they were. Fresh huckleberry pancakes with maple syrup and scrambled eggs. Oh my goodness. And I'm really not a food person.

Oh, yeah.