Posts Tagged ‘huckleberry research’

Huckleberries: The Treasure State’s berried treasure

Great Falls Tribune
“I’ve always said if you can stand the walking, the mosquitoes, the bears, the cougars and the bugs, you can pick huckleberries,” she said. “I just love it. …

Where in Oregon can I find wild huckleberries? – Yahoo! Answers

Preferably free for the pickin’ or low cost. I am …

Heart to Heart Gifts and Home Decor: Huckleberries are as Idahoan …

By Thom
If you’re looking for something uniquely Idaho to give as a gift, and would rather not give potatoes, why not try huckleberry products? Huckleberries are not only the Idaho state berry, but they’re unique to the pacific northwest. …

Along These Lines – Bakersfield.com -

Once a popular term with many meanings, ‘huckleberry‘ today is reserved primarily for an unusual berry, considered by many to have an outstanding tart …

Berry pickers asked to share details on favourite patches

BCLocalNews
Bear Aware is asking residents to share their favourite huckleberry picking spot for a survey that will compare the berry crops with area bears. …

A Million Things I Love . . .: #461 – Huckleberry picking

By tvmom
Do you know what a huckleberry is? Sort of like a blueberry, but a little more tart and smaller. It’s also the state fruit of Idaho. We just went huckleberry picking, they grow in the wild near my parents’ home. …

Huckleberry « cookingfloor

By Admin
The huckleberry resembles the blueberry, but does not belong to the blueberry family. Although all huckleberries are edible, some species are not very tasty. The garden huckleberry, which was developed by Luther Bur bank, …

Huckleberries?!? – CafeMom

If you live in the Spokane Wa area do you know where to go and pick them? If you do will you please share your spot.

your apples are my oranges: huckleberry fine

By Emily
mccall is full of huckleberries. and they are definitely huckleberries, not blueberries. i went on a nice hike and picked berries for about two hours, which shockingly only yielded a pound of berries. it takes so long. my friend andrea …

Where Do Wild Huckleberries Grow? | Garden Guides

Where Do Wild Huckleberries Grow?. Wild huckleberries are found all over North America. Red huckleberries are found growing in disturbed areas or logged …

How much iron is there in huckleberries? – True Knowledge

What is the total amount of Iron, the metallic element with chemical symbol Fe and atomic number 26 in huckleberries, the food?

Non Timber Forest Products idea

Lakes District News
“For example huckleberries need some light, but not too much light, … “From this information we can refine the model for huckleberries and better predict …

How to Grow Huckleberries in Minnesota | Garden Guides

How to Grow Huckleberries in Minnesota. Western huckleberries are planted for their flavor, which advocates claim is superior to the taste of the blueberry.

Five pints at a time

Daily Inter Lake – Kalispell,MT,USA
The shop, which has been a fixture on Electric Avenue in Bigfork for 30 years, is inside a quaint house featuring huckleberry decorations on the front porch …

American Indian Food: Huckleberries

Plants were important to the Plateau tribes. They gathered over 130 different plants. Two of the most important food plants for the tribes of this area were huckleberries and camas…

Deep fried bull testicles? Chew on this

PerthNow – Perth,WA,Australia
Most Australians are familiar with the name Huckleberry thanks to Mark Twain’s classic … Huckleberries are harvested by hand and used in pies, milkshakes, …

A North Idaho Agricultural Research Center Faces Closure

KUOW NPR – Seattle,WA,USA
Way up in the Idaho Panhandle, Danny Barney has been discovered — by huckleberry lovers, anyway. Barney is a horticulture professor and head of the …

Article also includes a quote from Malcolm Dell who is one of the founders of this organization and website.

R&E center’s fate in community’s hands Bonner County Daily Bee – Sandpoint,ID,USA He also works extensively with berries (including developing domestic huckleberries) and also with fruit crops. It also is possible that Barney would

Larry Lyons: Solving the great huckleberry mystery
Niles Daily Star – Niles,MI,USA
In last week’s column I mentioned attending a Potawatomi Indian Pow Wow commemorating the end of the huckleberry harvest season. Boy, did that open up a can …

I finished harvesting the breeder plants and evaluated a few thousand more seedlings. Three of the selections continued to be outstanding and another very good. If possible, I want to release these by 2012 or sooner. A few selections had only limited numbers of fruit, but quite large. They’ll serve as parents for more crosses. I’ve attached some photos.

Reports are that berry crops are heavy and fruit size is good at lower elevations. Priest Lake sounds especially productive. I expect the size and yields to drop at higher elevations unless we receive some moisture and cooler weather.

Best wishes,

Danny L. Barney, Ph.D.
Professor of Horticulture
Superintendent
University of Idaho
Sandpoint Research & Extension Center
1904 North Boyer Avenue
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Phone: 208-263-2323
Fax: 208-263-4470
Email: dbarney@uidaho.edu
Website: http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/index.htm

Contacts: John Hammel, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences dean, (208) 885-7694, calsdean@uidaho.edu; Bill Loftus, CALS science writer, (208) 885-7694, bloftus@uidaho.edu

College Considers Planning Process

For Closure of Research and Extension Centers

Written by Bill Loftus

MOSCOW – The University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences will involve faculty, staff and stakeholder groups around the state in its planning for the proposed closures of research and extension centers.

The college and University of Idaho Extension operate 12 research and extension centers throughout the state, and another based on the Moscow campus that oversees nearby facilities.

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Dean John Hammel outlined the proposal during a recent presentation to the Idaho Legislature’s Joint Finance – Appropriations Committee.

Hammel said the college plans to form a planning committee with broad membership from internal and external groups interested in the research and extension centers to help the college’s leadership assess the options.

The college will await legislative action on the state’s agricultural research and extension appropriation, which is not expected until late March, before the college finalizes its plan.

Hammel said the college’s leaders reviewed all available options before arriving at the proposal. The controlling factor was the agricultural research and extension budget is mostly dedicated to salaries. Only $3.3 million in operating funding is available to fund maintenance, program support, capital outlay and travel.

“We have little flexibility in our operating budget and we must not continue to markedly erode these resources,” Hammel said. “Doing so will severely limit our capability to adequately support our existing research and extension programs, many of which are already underfunded, and to address future priorities driven by the changing landscape of Idaho agriculture, communities and our clientele.”

The closure of two or more centers is the college’s proposed response to expected cuts totaling 7 percent or $1.94 million in the college’s agricultural research and extension appropriation from the state for fiscal 2010, which begins July 1.

In addition to the center closures to save approximately $1 million, Hammel said the college planned to eliminate 15 vacant faculty and staff positions to save $800,000 and cut travel budgets by 25 percent.

In a memo last week to the college’s faculty and staff, Hammel said no centers have been chosen for closure and the process to determine which centers would close under the plan has not begun.

Hammel said he will seek recommendations from those within the college and university and those who rely on the centers to keep Idaho agriculture healthy and competitive.

“We must stress that no centers and programs are currently targeted and that we have not yet initiated the review process,” Hammel said.

Some of the criteria that will be used to evaluate the centers will include:

*Current and future relevance

*Impact on industry and the specific industry sector affected by closure *Program priorities across Idaho *Potential partnerships or collaborations to meet need.

The list of criteria is not final, nor are the exact parameters that will govern the decisions, Hammel said, adding, “We will communicate the finalized review process and the criteria by which these actions will be determined.

About the University of Idaho

Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state’s flagship higher-education institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year; the University of Idaho is the only institution in the state to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation ranking for high research activity. The university’s student population includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars. Offering more than 150 degree options in 10 colleges, the university combines the strengths of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. For information, visit www.uidaho.edu

Bill Loftus, Science writer

Educational Communications

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences University of Idaho

W: (208) 885-7694, C: (208) 301-3566, F: (208) 885-9046

Ag Science 18, Sixth and Rayburn P.O. Box 442332, Moscow, ID 83844

January 20, 2009

I’m still here. Officially, I leave on 1 April. When I actually can get into the Sawtooth depends on the snow levels. Between now and April 1, I will also be taking 10 days off for annual leave. It’s either use it or lose it and I can use the time to get ready for my trip.

As for the interviews, probably sooner than later would be best and Fridays are tentative.

Thanks for the invitation; I can join the wild huckleberry group any time, just let me know what I need to do.

As for what is up, you may have heard that the UI and all other state universities and agencies are faced with major cuts. We have already had a 13% budget cut in operations and are facing more. Hopefully, we’ll survive. I have quite a few plants started for spring 2010 distribution to cooperators. I was able to do a rather thorough job of evaluating
fruit last summer and a few selections appear to be superior, in terms of fruit size and yields.

I am preparing a grant proposal to establish huckleberries, bilberries, and beargrass onto private forest ground near Sandpoint. This would be a great site for workshops as it has a nice building that is being remodeled for educational programs. I’ll be using what we already know and what I learn this year to base the trials on. The idea is to refine our management strategies for wild huckleberries and bilberries, with an eye to sustainable commercial harvests.

I also have been developing a plan for an organic and sustainable research & Extension Center near our existing farm. The budget crisis has put crimps into that, but I am hoping to get some outside grants that will cover the cost of developing the new farm. Organically-grown huckleberries and bilberries will be one of the main research projects.

Hope all is well for you.

February 5, 2009

Last week, the University of Idaho College of Agricultural & Life Sciences announced that at least 2 of the 13 Research & Extension Centers statewide will be closed due to expected state budget cuts. I’ve attached the official press release.

Because Sandpoint is one of the two smallest stations, we are a likely candidate for closure. At this time, the College does not plan to fire tenured faculty. Those affected, however, may have to relocate to Moscow or one of the other centers. How this will affect our huckleberry research, I do not know. I do know that the soils, climate, and location at Sandpoint make it an ideal place to study wild and domestic huckleberries. At present, we have plants in our nursery that should be ready for shipping in the spring of 2010 to cooperators. For those stations that are closed, we do not know yet how quickly they will be closed following the final decisions, which should come in mid May 2009.

I am requesting that my sabbatical leave to study wild huckleberries and bilberries be postponed for one year. I was supposed to be on leave in the berry fields of Washington from April-September 2009. I’ll need to be here to assist in the evaluation and selection process, act as a contact point for clientele and the public, and close the station, should that be necessary.

If you believe that this information would be of interest to the International Wild Huckleberry Association, I encourage you to pass this message along to the members. Decisions on which stations will be closed will partly depend on stakeholder input. If the members believe that our work has benefitted them and the industry, I would appreciate their
making that known to Dean Hammel and participating in the stakeholder process.

Thanks for the support you have provided over the years.

April 21, 2009

The blue ribbon panel convened to decide which R&E Centers will be closed met last weekend. Now it’s in the Dean’s court to make the final decisions. We should know by May 15 of this year. Lots of things could happen, one or two of them even good.

For now, I am working feverishly to establish new selections in vitro and back up all plants with multiple copies. I also started the breeding for 2009 today, planning on 31 crosses this year. I have many F1 seedlings from 2005-2006 crosses. Those seedlings are one year old and in the greenhouse. I want back up seed for all of the crosses between our best selections, just in case we have to move or shut down the UI program. I believe the last possibility is remote, but I’m not taking any chances. I’ll also be making more seed collection trips this summer to fill in gaps and replace aging seed from our first collections from sources that have proven good. We have about 4,000 seedlings from
2004-2006 crosses and open pollinated seedlings from wild collections in the greenhouse. More are in the bark beds and we have plants ready to go for a fall 2009 or spring 2010 distribution to growers.

I have tentative plans to offer two workshops at Sandpoint this summer, about the second or third week of July. The first workshop will be huckleberry cultivation for home gardeners. The second will be cultivation for commercial production. Until we know for sure what is going to happen here, the plans are tentative.

Depending on where or if I will be working for UI, the prospects are excellent for a large grant to study introduction of huckleberries, bilberries, and beargrass into forest areas where those plants are no longer found. It will be a great opportunity to test our model management systems for wild huckleberries. If things are a go, funding could start as early as this summer.

May 21, 2009

I am buried in research right now trying to preserve our most important germplasm and selections in case my station is closed. Although the controlled pollinations are done for the year, we are just starting tissue culture and cutting propagation, and will move from that into harvesting breeder trials and replacing old seed collections in the core germplasm collection.

Best wishes,

Danny L. Barney, Ph.D.
Professor of Horticulture
Superintendent
University of Idaho
Sandpoint Research & Extension Center
1904 North Boyer Avenue
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Phone: 208-263-2323
Fax: 208-263-4470
Email: dbarney@uidaho.edu
Website: http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/index.htm

February 14, 2008

(In response to an information request from Europe)

I suggest you visit my website at www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint. We have a great deal of information on the different huckleberry and bilberry species, including how to grow them.

The names huckleberry, bilberry, whortleberry, and blueberry are interchangeable and it is not unusual for a single plant to be called all of these names. There are also many different plants in at least two families and three genera that are called huckleberries. As far as what is a “true” huckleberry, it is a common name and widely used for many plants.

I work with Vaccinium species that are native to western North America, although some of the species are also found across North America and some in Asia and Europe. With one exception, alpine bilberry, Vaccinium uliginosum, all are found in genus Vaccinium section Myrtillus.

One species I work with is Vaccinium myrtillus. We call it bilberry or dwarf huckleberry in North America. It is best known as bilberry in Europe and is commercially harvested from the wild in Scandinavia and probably elsewhere. Bilberry has a long history of use for medicinal and culinary purposes. This would be by far the easiest huckleberry to obtain in Germany. The fruits are smaller than mountain and Cascade huckleberries native to the eastern U.S., but the flavor is excellent.

Red huckleberry, Vaccinium parvifolium, is first cousin to both bilberry and the large-fruited mountain and Cascade huckleberries. It is also found in section Myrtillus. The fruits are a bright red and tend to be quite tart. Red huckleberry has low anthocyanin and antioxidant concentrations and also lacks the strong flavor components of the Cascade and mountain huckleberries or bilberry. Red huckleberry is harvested commercially from the wild and used primarily, I believe, for pastries.

April 3, 2008

We still have no idea how our huckleberries fared the winter. They are still covered by 19 inches of snow. Nice insulation. I’m especially anxious to see how the bark beds turned out.

My primary focus now is getting the huckleberry cultivars developed, with most other projects on hold. I’ll be starting seed from crosses I did in 2008 and making more crosses early next month. We also have quite a few young plants ready for the greenhouse. On the positive front, I believe I have identified a main problem with tissue culturing some ofour selections. A different iron compound in the medium seems to be largely preventing the poor growth and death we have with many of the selections. I need to run a few more tests, but I think we will be able to turn out many more test plants for cooperators.

I will be in Alaska from June 14-30th and in Oregon July 13-17. In late August and early September, I will be making some trips to Lolo Pass and probably a few other huckleberry sites to collect samples. Most of the summer and fall will be spent getting ready for my sabbatical next summer.

Hope all is going well

March 4, 2008

Winter has not been too bad, just more than average snow and it hasstayed for a very long time. We still have about 24 inches on the level at our farm. Good for the plants. We had plenty of snow cover for insulation.

The new UI campus at Sandpoint is still on hold. The Wild rose Foundation put everything on hold when Coldwater Creek share prices dropped from $25 to $8. The prices are now down to $5.40 and I don’t see a turnaround soon.

Mr. Pence did donate 18 acres of land for a new experimental farm. About 8 acres are tillable and another couple suitable for container yards and the like. I still have to meet with the dean and director to find out what they want me to do and what I have to work with.

I’m propagating test plants as rapidly as I can and refining our in vitro techniques to establish the remaining selections. I am also starting seed from our past breeding trials. I was waiting for a new greenhouse, but that does not appear to be coming soon.

I just gave two talks on huckleberries at the pacific Agriculture Show in Abbotsford, Canada. There is some interest in producing bilberries and huckleberries in B.C.

July 18, 2008

My huckleberry crop at Sandpoint was very good, perhaps a couple of weeks late. Most cultivated crops are running two to three weeks later than usual throughout the region due to a long, cold spring.

The Priest Lake crop at about 2,600 feet looked average to above average in early June. I have not been back to see the ripe fruit, but probably will be next Thursday or Friday. I’ve been gone most of the past month to Alaska and Oregon.

I expect to have a good lower elevation crop early. Fruit size should be average to above average. The higher elevation crop is likely to be problematic due to little rain and high temperatures. I would rather expect a sporadic crop, with reasonably good yields on cooler, moister sites and few or small berries on drier sites.

I just returned from the International Vaccinium conference. Lots of good information that applies to huckleberries and bilberries. We should be able to greatly refine our nursery production of planting stock. Also, researchers in Norway, Finland, and Ukraine are working to domesticate bilberry (V. myrtillus) but are not as far along as we are. We are sharing information and, hopefully, germplasm. Their germplasm resources are incredible and we can offer help in propagation and production methodologies. All of us should profit from the exchange.

Breeding went well for mountain huckleberry this spring and terribly for oval-leaved bilberry. Practically no fruit set on the latter. We have made more selections of V. myrtillus and planted out F1 seed for many crosses in 2006. One of the V. myrtillus plants has very large berries. Baby crops can be deceiving, but it looks promising and is very late, as well. The raised bed and bark bed trials are doing exceptionally well and bore fruit this year.

We have the land for the new farm, so it looks like we are going to be in business for a long while. The site is a mess, however, and will take a few years to clean up and get into production. We expect to begin fruit plantings there in 2010 and 2011. I will be distributing planting stock in 2010 to cooperators.

July 30, 2008

I’ve managed to get into the high country a bit and the crops in northern Idaho look good so far. Fruit set was very good at all elevations I have been at and across a fairly wide area. I finished picking my crop at the Sandpoint R&E Center (2,000 feet elevation) on July 11. I noted pickers in the 3,000 foot elevation range last week and berries seem to be both abundant and quite large at that elevation. Higher up, the berries are still green but set abundantly and seem to be sizing up well.

We’re getting a little more moisture than last year, but it is still very dry and higher elevation berries are likely to be rather smaller than those lower down that are already ripe.

We’ve made more bilberry selections this year (V. myrtillus) and the market demand worldwide is very strong. I just returned from the International Vaccinium Conference where I met with researchers from Finland, Norway, and the Ukraine who are also working to manage or domesticate bilberry. We are sharing information and prospects for the industry appear excellent. Demand is especially great in Europe for the bilberry, but niche markets in the U.S. and Canada could easily be expanded with a little creative marketing.

We have had great success with growing huckleberries and bilberries in raised beds and bark beds under hybrid poplar. I’ll update our website and get information for the Western Huckleberry and Bilberry Association website early this fall.

Please feel free to contact me with questions and success stories.

November 5, 2008

Starting a new industry and fruit breeding can be slow and frustrating. At least we are making good progress on improved varieties and growing practices, as well as forest stand management. I should have a great deal of new information after next year’s sabbatical leave project in the Sawtooth. We are also propagating planting stock for a 2010 distribution.

I appreciate the support and should be able to link your new site to my existing huckleberry pages. Please let me know how you would like to proceed.

Thanks and good luck.

September 7, 2008

Right now I am tied up with a number of projects, including propagating huckleberries and getting ready for sabbatical. I’m also developing agrant for huckleberry studies establishing and managing berries in forest stands. Should be a perfect case study for your site.

Best wishes,

Danny L. Barney, Ph.D.
Professor of Horticulture
Superintendent
University of Idaho
Sandpoint Research & Extension Center
1904 North Boyer Avenue
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Phone: 208-263-2323
Fax: 208-263-4470
Email: dbarney@uidaho.edu
Website: http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/index.htm

July 17, 2006

There is an incredible demand for bilberries worldwide and our area is in a position to take the lead in producing these crops in managed production. …  As part of Cooperative Extension, I also have an obligation to help citizens throughout the country.

I have thirteen selections I want to send out to our cooperators for testing. I also have a surplus of seedlings that I might be able to make available to our cooperators. My director, however, has asked me to hold off on that temporarily. The University has had some problems lately with varietal releases and we need to make sure all the legal ducks are in a row so that we can get these selections through the pipeline as quickly as possible.

The science is easy. Politics and legalities are hard.

I’ll be in touch later this summer or early fall when we know better what our program will be. If all goes well, I will be able to dramatically increase my interaction with and support for huckleberry and other specialty crop growers starting in November.

August 4, 2006

Reports are that the early crop was very poor across much of the region. We had several frosts during late April through early May that were just cold enough to damage the flowers at lower elevations.

I have not heard about the higher crops yet, but would expect about an average crop. With the heavy snow pack and plenty of spring moisture, the berries that do develop should have a good size.

You’re right about the rapid movement of information today. At least I don’t have to actively aid our competitors.

Some good news here. I made several advanced selections for Cascade huckleberry (V. deliciosum) and bilberry (V. myrtillus) this spring. We now have advanced selections of the most important crops. I also have plants ready to ship to cooperators for testing as soon as I can work out a new non-propagation agreement with UI. We have had some problems with variety releases on other crops lately and my Experiment Station Director has asked me not to distribute materials until we get that worked out.

I’ll keep the group advised as to plant material availability. They should have plants available for spring planting.

October 17, 2006

What is up is hot water and the depth is about chin level.

University of Idaho President, Dr. White, has proposed selling the existing Sandpoint R&E Center property to construct a university learning center/campus and high school campus on the existing site. That appears to be a done deal. According to the Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, plans are to relocate the R&E Center to a smaller (20 acre) location nearby and construct a new office complex, laboratory, and greenhouse.

When and how that process will take place is still in the concept stage.

The good news is that plans are to rebuild the station with up-to-date laboratory and greenhouse facilities. Also, the existing station is much too large and diverse for my small staff and I to maintain, given our funding. We will be building a smaller, more efficient facility that focuses on huckleberries, bilberries, and ornamental nursery stock.

My appointment is changing the first of November from mostly research to mostly extension. This is being done at my request. A 20% research appointment will allow me to continue the huckleberry and bilberry cultivar development program. The increased extension appointment will allow me to spend much more time with prospective and established members of the industry, on site and in meetings.  I will also have more time to contribute to the website and will be able to take a far more active role in the WHBA.

Research has come along very well. This spring, I obtained seed from 60 crosses in the huckleberry/bilberry breeding program and added 23 advanced and 42 early selections to the group We now have 97 early or advanced selections that appear to have commercial quality or are at least suitable as parents for breeding.

Due to problems involving varietal releases and plant patenting at the University, I was asked not to distribute any plant materials during 2006. I now have permission to distribute selections for testing and will do so beginning early next spring. We have many plants ready to go that are overwintering in our outdoor or indoor storage facilities. Part of my new program will be to provide some planting stock for experimental plantings as part of our selection evaluation process. This should really help our producers. This winter, I hope to iron out the problems in propagating mature, hard to propagate selections. Our preliminary soil work is completed. An optimal production site will have a moist but well-drained loam or sandy loam soil with pH between 4.0 and 5.0. Silt loams are acceptable if adequate drainage can be provided, although amending the soil with sand or organic matter will help with the heavier soils. For all soil types, I recommend planting on raised beds about 12 inches high. Incorporating rot d bark or wood into the planting beds and/or mulching the beds with bark will probably be helpful. Irrigation will be necessary on most field cultivation sites.

Best production will be in full sun on a cool, north-facing slope. On more southerly exposures, light shade, particularly in the afternoon can be helpful. Even on a southerly exposure, full sun is acceptable if adequate soil moisture is available. We have found that liquid fertilizer work much better than granular formulations.

Depending on when the relocation takes place, life could be rather hectic for the next year or two. Fortunately, my department is allowing me some flexibility in developing a new program.

Rather than having one large meeting at a central location this year, I suggest having a series of two to four small meetings throughout the state that we can combine with on-site visits and consultation with individuals and local groups.

As you can see from the French pharmaceutical company’s email, market demand is tremendous. The Alaska Berry Growers are already harvesting and processing oval-leaved bilberries commercially. Bilberry (V. myrtillus) looks very promising for production and marketing and I have some very nice selections ready to test.

The big bottleneck in getting our industry going is getting commercial quality cultivars to the growers, so that will dominate my program. Fortunately, I believe we have selections of Cascade huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, bilberry, and oval-leaved bilberry that meet the requirements, but still need to be tested in different areas. Plants coming out of my breeding program will probably be better, but will take years to evaluate and get through the process. I’m trying to fast track some of the better selections we already have in the pipeline. I have some seedlings of red huckleberry and early selections of dwarf huckleberry and alpine bilberry and will be testing those to see how well they perform for us.

I can’t say I am at all happy to lose my existing station. At least we should be able to rebuild it and make it better focused and easier to manage.

I’ll be presenting some of our results at the Northwest Center for Small Fruit Research the first of December in Kennewick. I obtained funding for the coming year.

Hope to see you early next spring. Feel free to refer people to me and tell the members not to lose heart. We’re getting very close to making this happen.

November 27, 2006

2006 was a very complicated year for us at the Sandpoint R&E Center and we were unable to complete all of the activities that we had planned. I was notified in early June that the R&E Center will be undergoing major changes in programming, location, and facilities. The good news is that we will still be in business. We only found that out on November 16.

Due to legal problems with potato and wheat variety releases involving the University of Idaho, Idaho Research Foundation, and commodity groups, I was asked in late spring not to distribute any planting materials. It was only a couple of weeks ago that the situation was resolved and I obtained permission to do so. By then, all of our planting stock had been placed into winter storage.

I have oval-leaved bilberry and Cascade huckleberry plants available for you for early spring 2007. I will need you to sign a material transfer agreement. Basically it says that you agree not to propagate any of the plant or give them to anyone else.

We now have 97 early or advanced selections that are in our testing program. They cover dwarf huckleberry, Cascade huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, bilberry, oval-leaved bilberry, and alpine bilberry. Most have to be propagated for field trials. Thirteen are scheduled for cooperator testing as soon as I can propagate them. We will be shipping out two selections for testing in the spring and you should receive both of those.

My graduate student completed his program in October and we are in the process of publishing research articles on seed propagation of dwarf huckleberry, Cascade huckleberry, oval-leaved bilberry, and red huckleberry, \as well as in vitro propagation (cloning) of mountain huckleberry, Cascade huckleberry, and oval-leaved bilberry. This winter, I hope to work out the procedures for effectively cloning mature plants. That will greatly speed up the cultivar development and release program.

My appointment has changed from mostly research to mostly extension. I will spend 20% of my time developing cultivated varieties. 45% of my time will be spent working with the fruit and ornamental industries, giving me much more time to visit growers on site and provide training. I am scheduled to be in Kamiah on March 28 for a Master Gardener workshop and will spend at least several days in the area meeting with people interested in huckleberries. That might be a good time to bring down your planting stock.

I will be in touch with our cooperator group after the first of the year to schedule visits and training.

Thanks for the continued interest.

December 8, 2006

Interest in huckleberries is growing rapidly. I have had several queries recently from firms in the U.K. and France looking for huckleberries and bilberries. Requests from brokers and processors inside North America are also frequent.

The huckleberry program here is strong and is taking on new life. Our first test plants for cooperators will be shipped in spring 2007 and I will be traveling around the state visiting members of our group. With a new appointment at the University of Idaho, I will have much more time and opportunity to work with the industry. Please contact me if you would like to set up a visit or have questions or suggestions.

Best wishes,

Danny L. Barney, Ph.D.
Professor of Horticulture
Superintendent
University of Idaho
Sandpoint Research & Extension Center
1904 North Boyer Avenue
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Phone: 208-263-2323
Fax: 208-263-4470
Email: dbarney@uidaho.edu
Website: http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/index.htm

January 5, 2005

My contact with the Wisconsin researcher was less than satisfactory. He is,  apparently, completing some research and plans to publish it on in vitro  propagation of western Vaccinium species. Understandably, he did not want to  share any of his results and declined an invitation to collaborate on joint  projects. For his information, we’ll just have to wait until he publishes.  In the meantime, I have a graduate student working on the same problem. I’ll  also be back in the lab beginning today propagating test plants for  cooperators.

February 4, 2005

(In response to a grower request for a pro forma “budget” for growing huckleberries…)

I believe you are referring to enterprise budgets. With an abundance of production data available from many regions over decades of commercial production, we have excellent budgets for most or all domestic fruit crops. Unfortunately, as huckleberries have not yet been cultivated, we are guessing at many factors, including yield, years to crop maturity, and so on. Also, management of wild stands will produce a very different budget than cultivation.

Your suggestion is an excellent one, and development of enterprise budgets should be high priority items as we develop the necessary bases of experience and data. At this time, we could probably put together a draft enterprise budget for wild stand management. Budgets for cultivation are probably ten years away.

We have a good start with cooperating growers. Once improved varieties are available for planting in different growing regions of the Northwest, we will be in position to generate the required information.

As for factors to consider in terms of cultivation, equipment, soil modification, and so on, I would choose to use a blueberry enterprise budget as blueberry and huckleberry crops and cultivation practices are similar. I will be putting together a new blueberry budget within a year or so and will notify members of the list when it is ready.

Thank you for your suggestion

February 11, 2005

I hope we can generate interest in a  community-directed huckleberry program, although I’m not sure exactly how  that would work. The idea of a huckleberry festival sounds great. Other  communities throughout northern Idaho and western Montana sponsor them.

I can travel to Elk River a couple of times this summer for preliminary  meetings in the spring and a late spring or early summer meeting for the  public. I particularly like the idea of a tour of a producing huckleberry  field. As I have not collected in the Elk River area before, I am not  familiar with the terrain or huckleberry stands. I would have to do a bit of  scouting before the meetings.

My initial thought is that we should focus on management of forest stands,  versus cultivation. Stand management is possible right now, while  cultivation beyond experimental plots is still a couple of years away. We  might want to coordinate our efforts with the district Forest Service  Office.

I worked under a grant from the Northwest Area Foundation in the early 1990s  and found the organization reasonably easy to work with and supportive of  this type of program. Our emphasis was alternative agriculture, which  actually allowed us to move into huckleberry research. I’m sure they would  be pleased to see the earlier grant bearing fruit, so to speak.

Please let me know what you would like me to do in terms of contacts,  organization, or information.

By the way, I received a call from a Canadian consulting firm looking for  information on commercial production of bilberries (dwarf huckleberry) in  the upper Midwest. Given the present lack of cultivars, they may not  continue efforts in that direction. Given the many other contacts I receive,  interest in commercial production of these crops is strong. Someone will  start producing them. Hopefully, we can move rapidly enough to develop a  centralized industry in the Northwest.

March 4, 2005

Management of naturally-occurring colonies is possible now and I have some  clients doing so. The first cultivars for field production should be  released in about five years. My advanced selections are going out for  testing beginning this year. We have eight mountain huckleberry, four  oval-leaved bilberry, and one bilberry that will be tested. Many more  selections are in my advanced trials at Sandpoint.

The industry is presently decentralized with little or no coordination or  cooperation. All very secret, especially regarding sources of berries,  prices paid, and volumes purchased and processed. All berries come from the  wild, with prices of $4-5 per pound typical. Recently, export markets for  raw fruit have developed, some domestic and some to the Pacific Rim. prices  have gone as high as $7 per pound, exceeding what our local processors can  pay. Also, we are shipping fruit overseas at relatively low prices, where it  is freeze-dried and ground to make nutritional supplements that are sold at  much higher prices. Seems like we could do that processing in the Northwest  and keep a larger share of the profits.

The idea behind the huckleberry association is to expand the industry by improving coordination  and communication between producers, harvesters, brokers, processors, and  marketers. My efforts are directed at developing improved varieties and  production systems. For the industry to expand, we must first increase  supplies, reduce the variation in fruit supplies, and provide fruit to  processors reliably and at sustainable prices.

March 17, 2005

If we cannot find strong community support for a huckleberry program, I  suggest holding off for a year and focusing on our cooperating growers. If  we can generate some domonstrable success stories, we will have a better  chance for expanding.

For right now, my main focus is getting the prospective cultivars propagated  and out for testing. The sooner we can release some decent cultivars, the  better our chances of getting the industry moving. We have a number or  plants rootd and are propagating more as rapidly as we can.

I’ll be arranging on-site visits with huckleberry growrs. If you would like  to participate in some on site visits in the kamiah area, please let me  know.

July 7, 2005

Interest is high and demand looks good.

Dan Fagerlie of the WSU Cooperative Extension office in Republic and cooperator with the Colville tribe called in response to the Spokesman article asking to work as a cooperator. We have some good opportunities for expanding the regional industry.

The biggest hold up right now is planting material. My grad student and I are working with that now and are making some progress.

July 8, 2005

Thought I would give you an update on the huckleberry and bilberry program. I am writing to people who have expressed interest in participating in the huckleberry and bilberry domestication program. If you would like to be removed from the list, please let me know.

The germplasm evaluation program has generated thirteen promising selections that are ready for testing. My graduate student and I are propagating them as rapidly as possible for distribution to those of you who have expressed interest in testing huckleberries and bilberries in your locations. We’ll have a small number of plants from a few of the selections ready to ship this fall, with more in 2006.

Propagation has proven the challenging part, especially establishing mature plants in vitro. If all goes well, we’ll have all of the selections established in vitro by this fall. We are working on some new protocols that appear promising. We should know by the end of the year if they are successful.

We have F1 plants from the breeding program established, but are several years away from evaluations.

We are refining the in vitro protocols for several species and should complete the seed and in vitro propagation trials by early 2006.

The initial soil survey is complete and we are in the process of publishing. The best soils will probably be well drained loams or sandy loams. Well drained silt loams can also be acceptable, at least for some species. For silt loam soils or where drainage is otherwise less than ideal, I suggest growing on raised beds. Alpine bilberry (V. uliginosum) will tolerate a wider range of soil types than the other western species and tolerates seasonally wet sites as well as dryland sites. Cascade huckleberry (V. deliciosum) also tolerates seasonally wet sites.

The soil pH should be near 5.0 and a range of pH values from 4 to abut 5.5 acceptable. In native stands in five northwestern states, we found pH values from 3.6 to 6.2. Retired professor Nellie Stark observed mountain huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) at near neutral pH values.

High concentrations of volcanic ash or organic matter were not universally found in our survey, indicating that these materials are not required for survival or productivity. Likewise, many of the species we evaluated tolerated a wide range of nutrient concentrations and often thrived on low nitrogen sites. Container-grown plants in a peat moss-based potting soil respond strongly and positively to liquid fertilizer, usually 20-20-20 during the spring and early summer and tapering off to 10-30-20 or so in the late summer and fall. Field grown plants have not necessarily responded well to granular fertilizers and we presently use liquid fertilizers applied in irrigation water for our field plots. More extensive soil studies are in progress at Sandpoint.

Shading studies are in progress. Mountain huckleberry, Cascade huckleberry (V. deliciosum), and oval-leaved bilberry (V. ovalifolium) survive from full sun through 70% shade, provided soil moisture is adequate. Not all genotypes are equally adaptable, even within a species. An ideal location would probably be a cool, north-facing slope. In hot and/or dry areas, light shade on the order of 30% may prove beneficial. I have field trials under a thinned hybrid poplar stand and many of the accessions are growing and producing well. I have observed generally good fruit set at 50% shade, but the fruits tend to be sour.

Interest in huckleberries remains strong. An Idaho Public Television Outdoor Idaho special entitled Tastes of Idaho aired last night and featured our huckleberry program. the Spokane, Washington Spokesman Review newspaper ran a front page article earlier in the week and Associated Press plans to pick the story up for an upcoming weekend in July. Please contact me if you would like an electronic copy of the article.

Demand for planting stock remains strong, although some purchasers complain that the plants grow very slowly. We have found the seedlings remain juvenile and grow slowly for about two years and then begin to grow rapidly, producing mature shoots in the second or third years. I have found fruit on plants as young as three years and do my first selections at four to seven years. Bilberry (V. myrtillus) and mountain huckleberry seem to come into bearing more rapidly than the other species that we work with. Oval-leaved bilberry is slower and Cascade huckleberry slower, still.

One cooperator from central Washington has had excellent results with seedlings, producing four-to-six inch tall plants with mature foliage in a single season. Transplanting the seedlings to four- to six-inch containers early appears to allow for more rapid growth. We formerly produced our seedlings under 50% shade cloth, but full sun to a light shade may give more rapid growth. We will be testing that hypothesis next year.

The Western Huckleberry and Bilberry Association was formed last October, representing producers, processors, marketers, and researchers.

We have cooperative programs underway with the Clearwater Resource Conservation & Development Area of the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Clearwater RC&D Council, Inc. Rural Roots and other non profit groups have also assisted us with programming. A Washington Cooperative Extension office in northeastern Washington has expressed interest in participating in the program. The goals of our program relate to expanding the huckleberry and bilberry industries in the Northwest. At this time, the emphasis is on increasing supplies of the fruits through cultivation and production in managed forest stands. Providing high quality, productive plants to growers is the most serious limiting factor we have now.

The University of Idaho website has quite a lot of information on native Vaccinium species, as well as a grower’s guide. Check out the research page for general information. The publication Growing Western Huckleberries is available free on-line at http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/UI 20Publications.htm.

A workshop for prospective and established huckleberry producers will be held in Elk River, Idaho on July 29. The focus of the program will be on managing forest stands. More information on the program is available at

For those of you in central Idaho and east central Washington in the Pullman, Moscow, Kamiah, and Weippe areas, I can arrange on-site visits during the week of 25 July. Please contact me if you would like a visit.

For those of you in the northern three counties of Idaho, northeastern Washington, and northwestern Montana, I can schedule visits after the July 29 workshop.

I will be traveling throughout Washington and into north central Oregon in late August collecting seeds to complete our studies. I can try to arrange to meet with cooperators in those areas at that time.

Thank you all for your interest and support. Have a great summer.

August 1, 2005

(In response to questions from a prospective grower)

How successful huckleberries will be at your site depends on soils and, to a lesser degree, elevation and snow cover. If you provide me with a specific location, I can provide more precise information.

The best sites for most huckleberry species have well-drained, acidic, loam or sandy loam soils with a soil pH near 5.0 (7.0 is neutral). Depending on the species and site, from two to six feet of snow cover during the winter is beneficial to necessary. All of the species I have tested will grow in full sun, but can benefit from light shade on hotter, drier sites. Two species are adapted to seasonally wet soils around ponds, lakes, streams, and on dry lake bottoms.

I suggest you start by looking over my website. The research page has quite a lot of information on the different species and their growing requirements. Also check out the Extension page on-line publications, specifically the 2004 Berry Bulletin and the bulletin Growing Western Huckleberries. Both are available at no cost in PDF format, or a nominal fee for printed format.

At present, we do not have improved varieties ready for the public. We are developing varieties and have many promising selections, but still have to test them for several years. At this time, we have all the test growers that we can manage. We also work with people who would like to experiment with growing huckleberries on their sites.

For now, people are managing existing huckleberry stands, starting their own seedlings, or purchasing seedlings from several nurseries. The downside with growing seedlings is that only a small percentage produce good yields of high-quality fruit.

Mountain huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum) is Idaho’s state fruit and abundant in western and central Washington at elevations of 3,000 feet and above. You can sometimes find them lower and I am producing them in Sandpoint at 2,000 feet elevation. This species will not tolerate wet soils but also does not tolerate drought.

Oval-leaved bilberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium) is native around Priest Lake, Idaho, throughout the Cascades, and along the Pacific Coast from northern California to southern Alaska. It grows mostly on cool, shady sites on moist soils. The fruits usually lack flavor but are rich in anthocyanins and antioxidants.

Cascade huckleberry (Vaccinium deliciosum) is native to the Cascade and Olympic Mountains and along the British Columbia coast at elevations of 2,000 feet and above. It is adapted to seasonally wet soils or drier upland sites. It grows well for me in Sandpoint. This species has especially fragrant and flavorful berries.

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) grows on sites similar to the mountain huckleberry. Although the berries are small, they have excellent flavor and are rich in anthocyanins and antioxidants.

These are the four species I would focus on. You might also consider red huckleberry, although it has not been tested in western Washington and may not survive the winters.

Please feel free to contact me as you have questions. You may also visit our plantings in Sandpoint. It is a good idea to call a week ahead of time as I spend much of my time traveling.

August 10, 2005

We are up to our eyebrows in huckleberry propagation and research at the moment, When things slow down around the first of September, I’ll update my research site to include the PowerPoint presentation on management, and provide a link.

Reporter Vin Tahn from the Seattle Times is writing an article on huckleberries. Should be out in a week or so.

Crops I’ve seen so far this year are light to very light. Reports from southern Idaho and central Washington are the same. Not sure why.

August 15, 2005

I’m seeing quite a few people selling berries along the highways. All very informal. Crop reports continue to come in very light throughout the region. If you need berries, I would buy sooner than later. We usually see a price runup later in the season in years like this. My grad student and I will be collecting our samples for propagation studies next week. We’ll be collecting throughout Washington and northern Oregon. I’ll let you know what we find.

September 12, 2005

I am swamped with research at the moment. I was stationed in Cordova, Alaska  with the Coast Guard in the 1970s and picked berries there myself. Most of  the coastal blueberries are probably Vaccinium ovalifolium, Oval -leaved  bilberry. It is sometimes called Vaccinium alaskaense, Alaska blueberry.  Although the flavor is mild to poor compared with other species, the berries  are exceptionally rich in anthocyanins and antioxidants. The real potential  for many of the Alaska fruits is for nutritional supplements and botanical  products, not culinary products.

You also have V. caespitosum, dwarf huckleberry, and V. uliginosum, alpine  bilberry, in your area. Good flavors but small fruits. The uliginosum is  harvested commercially in China and Russia for use in wine production. You  also have wild cranberry, V. oxycoccus.

If you would like more information on these species, check my website at  www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint. The research and extension pages go into some  detail. When time allows, I will be adding a section on forest stand  management, which is probably the best option for Alaska.

Please contact me as you have questions.

Best wishes,

Danny L. Barney, Ph.D.
Professor of Horticulture
Superintendent
University of Idaho
Sandpoint Research & Extension Center
1904 North Boyer Avenue
Sandpoint, ID 83864
Phone: 208-263-2323
Fax: 208-263-4470
Email: dbarney@uidaho.edu
Website: http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/sandpoint/index.htm