Idaho and Huckleberries… Did You Know?

How is it decided which fruit will be the state fruit? and more specifically how did Idaho gets its state fruit? These are the questions that roam my mind late at night and keep me awake. Ok, maybe not but I will confess to this... I had never tasted a huckleberry in my life until I came to Idaho. I had never enjoyed huckleberry pancakes, huckleberry syrup, huckleberry jam, huckleberry vodka or anything else huckleberry. It all makes sense now, huckleberries only grow in elevations between 4000-6000 ft. and they have an extremely short picking season ( July and August ) No wonder they're not commercially grown. The other interesting bit of information you should know before you go on a huckleberry picking adventure is that the chances of you competing with Bears for these berries is extremely high as the fruit is a major part of their diet in late summer. Oh and one more thing you should know about our state fruit... It was a group of North Idaho 4th graders that spawned the idea of the huckleberry as our state fruit. Having said all of that I think Idaho has the coolest state fruit, but judge for yourself. I've included a list of all the state fruits compliments of ereferencedesk.com