Fantasy Fulfilled!

We made it up the mountain in search of our "mother lode". The Wood Artist had seen a patch of huckleberries on his long mountain bike trip. We were unsure, however, if they would still be there when we got there a week later. We took our friend and two of her boys with us. It was about a 3 1/4 mile hike up a very steep mountain.

As we neared our destination, we met two backpackers. We asked them if they had seen any huckleberries. They said that it looked like they were drying up. But when we asked if they had eaten any, one of them said, "No! I'm afraid to eat anything out here!" I was very amused.

We kept hiking and then came to where The Wood Artist remembered seeing so many. Sure enough! They were there! And it was a "mother-lode". These backpackers had walked right through a huge patch of the most delicious, big, huckleberries! They hadn't even tasted them! Poor guys!

Well we started to pick. We tried out some pickers that The Wood Artist is perfecting. They needed a little more perfecting, so I ended up picking by hand about 1/2 the time. The Wood Artist had one professional picker that worked well.

We ended up leaving the patch that day with 5 gallons! Our friend got about 1 to 1 1/2 gallons, since she had to leave early. I've always fantasized about picking 5 gallons in one day and now we've done it!

It was great fun to hear the children playing together as they picked. They started "staking claim" and "buying and selling" their prized patches. The two little guys (Mr. Blueberry Eyes and his friend) picked a downright impressive amount for their age!

And now, I have bags and bags of the purple gold in my freezer just waiting to be made into pies. Fantasy fulfilled! - Nanette