Garden Huckleberry

I grew up eating wild huckleberries, raw. They were anything but tasteless. These can't be any good if they are tasteless raw.

First year growing these. I did my research, and while I wish these were a berry my kids could eat out of the garden, they will make a very tasty jam or pie which I've heard it does wonderfully. They grew very well and produced lots of berries. Best thing was I didn't have to fuss or worry about bugs or birds eating them. My one year old and likes to eat them but I only let her have 1 because they can be toxic raw. They are in the nightshade family. It's an annual plant much like a pepper or tomato plant

These are an old-world variant of Black Nightshade. While edible when ripe, this is why they are toxic when raw and don't have much taste. They are not closely related to what most people consider huckleberries, which are native to North America and in the heath family, and related to blueberries and bilberries.

These are not what people in North America would call huckleberries, they are an old-world relative of black nightshade, which is edible when ripe but quite a different taste from new-world huckleberries (which are related to blueberries and bilberries).

Grew great, but these must be a different type of huckleberry than the ones growing in Idaho. These look and taste more like nightshades. I worry a bit about using lots of them in a jam or jelly. My chickens won't eat them, which is also interesting. The other type of huckleberry looks more like a blueberry than a nightshade. Not sure i will grow these again.

Just an fyi- this is NOT a true huckleberry. Don't expect it to taste like a wild huckleberry. This is in the nightshade family and yes, is tasteless raw. However when you cook it and add a little sugar it tastes like a cross between a blueberry and grape- very tasty!

The plant itself is very prolific. Just do a little research on garden huckleberries aka black nightshades and enjoy!!

I grew these a few years ago. The plants were vigorous & huge. The berries get to be the size of a ground cherry. I didn’t try eating one raw as they are toxic. I tried making jam out of them (thankfully I tried a smaller amount like a quart) & it was horrible. It was a waste of money, work, garden space & time. We’ve been to Montana & have seen/eaten wild huckleberries... these are nothing like them.

It grows in Florida zone 9.But I do not recommend, because even birds don't want to eat it.
What animals and worms do not eat is not good for humans either.

a local csa here in nw oregon, grows this berry, cooks and bottles it as a syrup. was quite disappointed to find its from nightshade family, but then i discovered, a little goes a long way: i use it in cocktails and also when i make lavender simple syrup, it keeps an amazing bright deep purple to light lavender color depending on how much one uses. will try it in my meringue cookies, pavlovs next.

I love Huckleberries. When I go long distance hiking; I wake up in the morning and find a huge patch of them and make up some oatmeal. If your seeds are producing tasteless berries than you need to find another supply of fresh seed. All the huckleberries I have ever tasted are sweeter than blueberries. In the wilderness, the huckleberries grow right beside the blueberries. If you are having trouble with the flavor of them then try planting them near blueberries. It;s a great gardener trick.

Very very productive, even on the shadier east side of the house. But seriously couldn’t get into the flavor. May try to dye wool with the berries...cooked with acid, that purple is amazing, but i have not tried that yet.

Laurel,
Thank you for your input. The Huckleberry when raw is tasteless, so a sweeting agent is encouraged. The best uses for the huckleberry are for pies, jams/jellies, syrups, smoothies. They are also very useful for dye, they will produce a lavender color.

As long as you do research on how to use these and know what to expect they are amazing! Make a great pie, or sauce for ice cream. My family loves them. The plants are huge, sturdy and produced like crazy! Harvesting 3 plants produced 21 cups of fruit. I will definitely do them again!