Historic Hood River
Strawberry Hybridization
4-1-2026
Notes
In the early 1900s Hood River farmers experimented with a strawberry- watermelon hybrid. While it was a technical triumph, the “Hood River Humongo Berry” was a marketing failure. They proved difficult to get to market (as shown in this image) and had an off-putting taste, described in this edition of The Hood River Glacier as a cross between cantaloupe melon and a pork chop. A few years ago hikers reported finding a surviving humongo berry vine along the North Fork of the Hood River near Blodgetville.
Jeffrey Bryant
My great-great grandfather, Cyrus Vaughan, was selling strawberry plants in Hood River for $0.02 each. He could only sell a few plants because of the size of berries.
Jeffrey Bryant
Cyrus Vaughan was also selling melons, so he may have been involved with the hybridization effort.
Kurt Cyrus
I wish Mr. Sumoge had been growing this variety in the 60’s. Those berries would have given us some decent shade on those hot afternoons.