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I see some empty buckets there, just sayin'.

Curious as to what this means. I suppose it means nutrients, If so, why would you not use them? There are several good choices, and any of them is better than none of them.

Likely no need to sanitize the fruit, I never have. Especially in secondary.

It sounds horrible to me, but what do I know?

Use nutrients.

I added more info after posting my reply, just posting again to make sure you don't miss it.

Freeze them. Freezing is usually considered a good practice, in order to burst the cells, thereby improving juice/flavor extraction.

I only brew in the winter, for that very reason.

I picked a gallon of wild chokecherries today, and I expect to get another gallon next week. These will go into my next mead, along with some of the honey I am harvesting next week.

I had a huckleberry mead that tasted "salty" when young, I thought it was because of my use of DAP. Two years in the bottle later, the salty taste is gone. I don't know why.

Agreed. I think there may be a misidentification of a tart/acidic or "green" flavor, rather than actual vinegar/spoiled flavor. That is why I suggested letting it age a little before judging.

I am guessing it is not vinegar. Give it a little while, and recheck.

I just finished a 2021 bottle of 9% abv huckleberry melomel that was amazing. I see more of this in my future, maybe a little higher abv. For those unfamiliar, huckleberries look like blueberries, except a darker color. They taste wonderful, more grape-like than blueberry to me. They grow wild...

Don't sweat the airlock not bubbling, they often won't, and it is not a problem.

That's what I get for correcting someone, talking beyond my knowledge. 🤣 I know nothing about beer brewing or distilling, I should have stayed in my wheelhouse. I'll stick with mead, where it is a must. 🥂

For beers, it is mash. For wines it is must, and mead is a wine.

Show mead is supposed to "show" the flavors of the honey, with nothing else added that can get in the way. I consider show meads a subset of traditional, but I might be wrong on that. Different goals, different meads, all is fine.

There, I fixed it for you.

Adding the fruit to secondary will not increase the alcohol. The berries will add more water (relatively speaking) than sugar, so it will actually decrease abv an insignificant amount. I'd do it, and not stabilize at the point; let it ferment.

Fresh. I would guess about 2 pounds to a gallon.