Bob Krumm - Rocky Mountain Berry Book: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Berries and Fruits Throughout the Rocky Mountains

Bob Krumm is a biologist, zoologist, writer, and outdoors enthusiast from Sheridan, Wyoming. He is a longtime fly fishing guide, and he wrote a weekly outdoors column for the Billings Gazette from 1981 until June of 2018. He has written several other books for the FalconGuides Nuts and Berries series, such as Great Lakes Berry Book, Pacific Northwest Berry Book, 2nd edition, and New England Berry Book.

Many of the people who helped me with writing the first two editions of the Rocky Mountain Berry Book are instrumental in the third, as much of the book is built on that foundation.

Thanks to Mike Aderhold, Public Information Officer for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks in Kalispell for his invaluable assistance. He helped with editing and told me of people to contact for recipes and information.

Bob Giurgevich helped immensely with editing and botanical advice. Earl Jensen provided botanical editing advice as did Dr. Dee Strickler, Columbia Falls, Montana.

Betty Bindl, Trout Creek, Montana, provided me with her wonderful book of huckleberry recipes and lots of information about the Trout Creek Huckleberry Festival.

Charlotte Heron, Missoula, Montana, supplied me with lots of unique wild berry recipes.

Theo Hugs, who formerly worked for the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area at Ft. Smith, Montana, gave me several Crow Indian recipes and lots of bits of natural history and Indian history.

Alma Hogan Snell, former Crow Indian Medicine Woman, gave me some recipes and lots of adviceI sadly regret her passing but her memory brings smiles to my face and heart.

Thanks also go to Darcy Williamson, McCall, Idaho, for all the recipes that she created. She is the wild foods and herbal medicine queen!

Eternal thanks to my parents, Donald and Emily, for giving me an outdoor education from early childhood.

Sincere appreciation goes to my friend, Dot Heggie, who urged me to write the Rocky Mountain Berry Book. Her coaxing and encouragement helped to make the dream a reality.

Especial, heartfelt thanks go to Joel Wilson, who helped me to conquer the many problems with computers and compilations.

Brady Fackrell, IT person for Sheridan College, provided much-needed technical advice for the third edition of this book. He is a godsend to a computer illiterate such as me.

Thanks, too, for my wife, Carol, who offered encouragement, editing advice, and support.

Finally, thanks to all the folks who submitted recipes, gave advice, cheered me along, and offered encouragement.

Hawthorn

While many berry pickers simply pick into a bucket of sorts, you might try a berry bucket that I use: namely, a 1-gallon milk jug. I cut the top off the jug at the taper and make sure to leave the handle. When I am picking berries, I simply run my pants belt through the handle of the jug and buckle the belt, so I can be a two-handed berry picker. I also dont have to worry about tipping over my bucket. I usually tote some plastic bags in case I need to empty my berry bucket.

When I am picking elderberries or wild grapes, I like to use a pruning pole in order to clip off clumps that are beyond my reach. The pruning pole enables me to snip off the clumps without damaging the vines or canes.

When I am picking wild grapes that are within reach, I sometimes use my pocket knife to lop off the grape cluster so I dont damage the vine.

Whenever I pick berries, I wear long-sleeved shirts and fairly heavy pants so the thorns and prickles dont make too big a mark on me. Some berry and fruit species arent prickly, but oftentimes getting close enough to pick them involves wading through species that are. Even a species such as serviceberry might have a broken branch that will gouge you if you arent paying attention.

The following section offers recommendations for berries that are just right for the types of meals you plan to make.

These are berries you can eat as is without any preparation.

Huckleberry

Low Bush Blueberry

Serviceberry

Thimbleberry

Wild Plum (when fully ripe)

Wild Raspberry

Wild Strawberry

Black Currant

Chokecherry

Elderberry

Gooseberry

Huckleberry

Low Bush Blueberry

Serviceberry

Wild Plum

Wild Strawberry

You can substitute one or more berries in these recipes.

Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry Syrup

Currant Cordial

Currant Pie

Evelyns Best Pie Crust

Huckleberry Rolypoly

Impossible Cheesecake

Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes

Thimbleberry Fritters

Thimbleberry Shrub

Very Berry Sorbet

Whortleberry Muffins

Wild Fruit Dumplings

Wild Strawberry Slump

Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry Syrup

Dutch Oven Delight

Huckleberry Sourdough Pancakes

Rose Hip Candy

Wild Fruit Dumplings

Wild Gooseberry Dumplings (Slump)

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