Here's what's different about the huckleberry season this year: we have bags and bags and bags of huckleberries! Woohoo! Last year we had maybe two quarts (see those little plastic containers - last year we had the harvest equivalent of two of those containers)! This year we had over 50 quarts!
Look upon the beautiful, bountious harvest of huckleberries! I've never seen so many in my whole entire life!
I'm smiling now because the task of de-stemming each berry had only begun. It took me over three hours to go through that whole bucket of huckleberries. Ugh. My thumbs were pretty sore by midnight.
This is all that's left of my father's huckleberry harvest! It took us over an hour to cut down the huckleberry stalks and then cut the clusters off of the stalks. Each of the boys did a great job of helping!
This is what the huckleberry patch looked like before the harvest! I laughed in utter disbelief - it was like a dream come true! Despite my father's great skill at gardening, I just never imagined he'd be able to grow this many huckleberries! Oh the joy!
The boys are helping carry their harvest of huckleberries back to Papa Ger's truck.
Eli was a super helper - he carefully picked each individual huckleberry off of the cluster and then carefully placed it in the box. He took his job seriously!
Grandma Rozer's strategy was to cut down huge stalks and throw them in the big box. Then she sat down and pulled out a stalk at a time to cut off the clusters and then de-stem them. Just like Henry Ford - she has to find a better way!
Isaac and Levi made a great team - even when they got tangled up in the oversized stalks!
Papa Ger was glad for the help - the boys floated back and forth between grandpa and grandma. Did they offer to help me? Of course not. I'm chopped liver when the grandfolks are around!
Here Eli is showing off his handiwork: an individual huckleberry that he has carefully plucked from the stalk.
Eli floated all over the place: he'd help Papa Ger, he'd help me, he'd help Grandma Rozer, he'd wander around, he'd try to help his brothers - but they weren't too keen on him butting into their space.
Mr. Isaac taking a break from harvesting!
Mr. Levi and his cheesey grin!
Grandma Rozer leads the way to Papa Ger's heavenly huckleberry patch: I am totally unprepared at this point for the bonanza of berries I am about to behold with my eyes. All I can say is this: Dad knows how to grow huckleberries! Way to go Dad!
1 comment:
You have such a way with words. I love reading your stories.
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