Are you ready for huckleberry season? Huckleberry picking rakes are currently in stock and ready for the 2022 huckleberry season!
SPECIAL NOTE:
The post-Covid SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION has reached us in 2022, so we cannot access the WIRE loop tine model of huckleberry picker/rake we’ve sold since 2008. At this moment, we are unsure when the situation will improve, according to our manufacturer.
However, for an alternative, we currently offer ONLY the hard but flexible PLASTIC tine model (in beautiful purplish color) for $3 less than our standard
picker/rake pricing—which had not gone up in 14 years. This model takes a bit more finesse to use than the wire tine model but is essentially identical in function (and some huckleberry hounds prefer).
SINCE THE WIRE TINE RAKES ARE NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE, we offer you the purple plastic tined rakes as pictured for a $3 discount.
ORDER THE PLASTIC-TINE MODEL HERE!
We do not know how the upcoming 2022 huckleberry crop will pan out, but the prolonged cold, wet spring, combined with late frosts well into May, is not a good sign. We’ve not scouted or heard if spring buds were covered by snow during those frosts, but we are crossing our fingers. Other than that, we hope for more moderate summer temps than we had in 2021. Last year’s prolonged hot, dry weather led to an extremely short, poor crop in 2021. Most value-added huckleberry producers (jam, syrup, etc.) were forced to downscale operations last year because they could not get enough berries from their suppliers.
Since we are right on the edge of the huckleberry season, we want to clear up some misconceptions about picking rakes.
Huckleberry Rakes Do Not Damage Plants
Frequently, we receive inquiries as to the safety of using rakes to pick huckleberries. Over the years, we have responded to comments with the facts about the issue — especially questions about the damage to plants when using huckleberry pickers.
The blueberry industry has been using rakes to pick commercial berries for several decades, maybe even a century.
Native Americans traditionally harvested huckleberries using rakes carved from wood or made from the backbone of a salmon or steelhead together with the rib cage on one side. (See the following resource: USDA: A Social History of Wild Huckleberry Harvesting in the Pacific Northwest.)
No one would be using rakes if they damaged the plants, much less killing them.
We have included extensive instructions (and videos) on how to use huckleberry picking rakes on the following pages:
- Huckleberry Picking Rakes
- Huckleberry Picking Tool Myths
- Easy Way to Pick Huckleberries
- Huckleberry Rake Techniques
- Use of the Huckleberry Rake Videos
