Fairbanks Harvest

Had a successful afternoon of berry picking in Fairbanks this last week.


The blueberries are large, thick, and juicy! Spent a few hours at a secret (ahem...) spot and picked several buckets full. We actually ran out of containers and couldn't eat anymore!


Then we were graciously invited to pick raspberries at a friend's mothers place where there were rows and rows of manicured raspberry bushes brimming over with ripe berries. Again, we picked until our buckets were full, leaving under ripe berries on the bushes for those who will come after us.


We did learn a new picking strategy from this wise old sourdough - I'm not sure I want to share it because it might be your Christmas present!

All in all -- A berry good day!

I forgot the mess with apple butter

Oso, Terry, Tim and I found some incredible high bush cranberries out at Boy Scout Beach a couple weeks ago. We had hoped for a perfect beach day but it started out as a drizzle and ended up pouring buckets of rain.

The bushes were really tall and the distribution of berries looked more like grape clusters. We only found a bush here and there - not a great patch of bushes. We ended up with 4 cups which is about 1/2 of what I needed.


So the next weekend Tim and I were on the hunt for 4 more cups. I was trying to remember on all the walks we've taken where I've seen berries and I remember seeing them mostly out the road. We didn't want to drive out that far so stuck closer to the house. We stopped at 4 or 5 places before finding the right combination of water and woods. The berries we picked on the lower Montana Creek trail were more ripe and not nearly the size of those we found out the road but we got 4 cups so we were happy with that.

And then I started making the Applebutter. We always made applebutter with high bush cranberries. The recipe of the UAF Coopertive Extension service was a mainstay in our household. Its in their publication called, "Collecting and Using Alaska Wild Berries and other Wild Products" (FNH-001200) which they sell for $10. I forgot how messy it was to make this jam. First you have to heat up the dried apples and the highbush berries until the berries pop. This mixture spatters all over the stove. Then, because I don't have a food mill, you have to strain out the berry-apply mixture with does have texture to it from the high bush cranberry seeds which are about the size of an apple seed, but flatter. I have 3 strainers and ended up using all them, plus the potato masher, various spoons, and several pots and bowls. Good thing we have a dishwasher–I quickly filled it up!



When I had it strained, I added the sugar and spices and again had the splitter and splatter on the stove top. Then the canning process was an entire process in inself working with boiliing sugared jam, glass jars and steam. You might as well plan a day to do all this.

But the end result is delicious. I like to have it plain and Tim likes it mixed with spicy mustard (1:1) as a sandwich spread. We have enough preserves to give away and keep until the next fall when I'll want to do it all again!

Bunches of Berries

One of my favorite hiking trails in the Fairbanks area is at Granite Tors. Its a 14 miles loop trail that most people do as a night over trip. Tim and I have been up both sides of the loop but haven't done the complete loop up by the Tors. The East side of the loop follows the river then a creek until it starts climbing up a side-hill. The West side of the trail goes through the tundra and lower muskeg. Right before we left town they put in a 3-mile loop which makes for a really nice walk that takes advantage of both sides of the valley's scenery.

I convinced some of my buddies to take a little wallk with me one night after work while I was in town recently. Here's one of the bridges that's on the new loop cross-over trail.


Chris and John

After we made the turn we walked a little ways beyond the trail back and headed up the west side. The blueberries started to get thicker as we walked up the valley. We found that they were pretty big right by the creek. Kim with the east side trail in the background.


and Dorothy showing off the wonderful berries we found along the creek.


This was a strange hike...as we were starting out we heard someone calling and then when they finally got our attention a man told us his wife and two kids had taken off for a hike along the east trail at about 11 and were supposed to be back by 2 pm. He said that the rangers and helicopters were on their way. It was about 7:30 or 8 pm when we started out. We weren't sure if he was pulling our leg or what. We kept our eyes open but didn't see anyone who looked lost. About an hour later we heard a helicopter and then saw it start doing a searching pattern. On our way back we ran into a couple rangers who were sweeping the trail. And then we started hearing answers to their calls. When we got back to the parking lot they still hadn't shown up yet but we told them we had heard voices, and one that might have been a kid or higher pitched woman's voice. As we were packing up a young boy and a ranger can into view and it was the missing party. The boy seemed a little worried about maybe getting to trouble. He said that they were never lost - they just lost track of time. I guess the strangest part if this adventure was that they father never hugged the kid or expressed any strong emotion. He didn't actually start yelling. The ranger had to tell the guy to get the kid in a warmed car. We didn't stay to see the rest of the party come back. It seemed like maybe the mother had a hip problem and had to take her time. Anyway, really glad it turned out but it was a baffling experience.