It is good that others are taking up where Dr. Dan Barney left off with his huckleberry research.
Here is a recent story from Idaho Ag Today on the work of University of Idaho Professor Stephen Cook:
Domesticating huckleberries
Idaho’s state fruit isn’t commercially produced, nor are there any domesticated huckleberry varieties available.
Native to the Northwest, huckleberries are mostly harvested from wild plants growing within Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana public lands.
University of Idaho Professor Stephen Cook, head of the Department of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Nematology, has been working to overcome significant hurdles to huckleberry propagation.
Cook is in the fourth and final year of USDA-funded research to organically protect greenhouse-raised huckleberry starts from a destructive pest, called the black vine weevil, in addition to studying ways to boost survival when those potted plants are transplanted into residential yards or the wild.
The research team also includes Randall Brooks, a UI Extension forestry professor, and Andrew Nelson, director of the Franklin H. Pitkin Forest Nursery, which is located on the Moscow campus and operated by the UI’s College of Natural Resources.
Cook is also leading a second huckleberry project that started in 2022 with funding from a three-year USDA grant. …
Hello, I have a small garden in Liberty Lake WA, my elevation is apx 2100’, I have an area that is part sun, part shade, I would like to plant some huckleberry bushes this spring, I prefer the sweetest of the huckleberry varieties available, any suggestions? Thx.
Thanks, Tim, for your question.
There is no simple answer because it is hard to classify huckleberries by sweetness. Many factors can impact the plants’ ability to grow and produce.
This resource may be useful for your project: https://wildhuckleberry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Barney-1999-Growing-western-huckleberries-BUL-821.pdf