I remember a couple of years ago reading about a Garden Hucklberry. I cant seem to find anyone who sells it. So if anyone could help find where I can get it and give me some information about it please help me Thanks.

-- Jason Priest (jeremy37@indy.net), February 08, 2000

Answers

Jason, Garden huckleberry, aka huckleberry, aka wonderberry, was developed by Burbank. It is a member of the Solanum (ie tomato) family. I've tried growing it years ago and never had much luck with it. It will produce fruit in groups that look something like skimpy grapes. Garden huckleberries aren't an eating berry, but are supposed to be ok (heavily sugared) in things like pies. Probably could make jams or jellies of them with enough sugar.

I'd try Gurney's oR Fields for seeds. There are also huckleberries, Gaylussacia sp, that would be much like blueberries except for their seeds. Don't know who would have them, but they'd be plants. Might be included in wildlife or windbreak sections of the catalogs since the birds are supposed to love them. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), February 08, 2000.

The last time I grew them, I got the seed from Stokes. I know in perusing several other catalogs (I garden BIG and got in excess of 20 catalogs this year) I saw at least one other company offering them. My crop was marginally successful, but then I had a lot of problems, and little time, that year. Never did get around to trying the pies. If you still can't find them, e-mail me and I will do a search through my catalolgs. I KNOW we can find them. Good Luck! Brad

-- Brad (homefixer@mix-net.net), February 08, 2000.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
2278 Baker Creek Rd
Mansfield MO 65704
www.rareseeds.com

Sandhill Preservation Center
1878 230th St
Calamus Iowa 52729-9659
This is a private organization "dedicated to the preservation of our genetic resources" so please send $1.50 for a catalog. No homestead should be without this catalog. The best seeds and poultry Ive ever ordered.

-- William in WI (thetoebes@webtv.net), February 08, 2000.

I've grown huckleberries here in southeast Texas several times very successfully. I would like to point out that Luther Burbank did not develop huckleberries; he selected a strain he thought was better than others and called it the "wonderberry". They are warm season plants, so I plant them direct seeded at the same time I set out tomato and pepper plants here in zone 8b, being mid to late March. They grow much like a tomatillo; a spreading bush about 2 ft. tall and as wide as you'll let it get. I had to keep mine hacked off so they wouldn't swamp everything else. The berries are bitter and have no real berry taste when raw, and must be heavily sugared to taste like anything. Harvest when they are soft and no longer shiny, and when the area around where the stem attaches to the fruit is no longer green. Some people say they have to be frosted on to get rid of the bitterness, but that has never worked for me, and I have tried about 4 different varieties. A few plants will produce a surprising amount of fruit. If you end up not liking it, it makes good chicken food. Be aware that there is also a plant more like a wild blueberry that is sometimes referred to as a huckleberry, but this is a woody shrub, whereas the "garden huckleberry" is an annual, like a tomato or tomatillo in habit.

-- hannah (hannahholly@hotmail.com), February 10, 2000.

Hello,

We have 4+ different Huckleberry plants here( Western Washington). They grow like weeds!!

-- Mrs Nees (autumnhaus@aol.com), March 04, 2000.