Facebook is a great place to connect with other Alaska berry hunters/foragers. Here are three Alaskan groups with lots of information and members to share knowledge with:
Alaska berry pickers: Alaska Berry Pickers
Alaska edible and medicinal plants: Alaska Edibles and Medicinals
Alaska wildcrafting and foraging: http://Alaska Wildcrafting and Foraging
Enjoy!
Posted in Sources of Information
t’s close to the time of year when strawberry plants need to be tucked in for the winter. This website offers detailed advice on the whens, hows, and whys of mulching strawberries. Wintering Strawberries. There are links to more useful strawberry information including overwintering strawberries in containers.
Posted in Strawberries (Fragaria)
High bush cranberries and baneberries Anyone who as thumbed through a book or perused a website about Alaska berries knows about baneberries. They are highly poisonous and to be avoided at all costs. I figured that was simple enough to do. Baneberries seemed distinctive from other berries. They could easily be spotted and distinguished on their own in the woods. I thought they shouldn’t be difficult to avoid. Recently I was picking high bush cranberries and learned how easy it could be to mistakenly add some baneberries to your highbush cranberry harvest. The baneberry plants were growing alongside the high bush cranberries and the branches intertwined. Both berries have black dots in the center of the red. The high bush cranberries are translucent while the baneberries are opaque, but the distinction is small. Both berries were soft at the time I was picking. The leaves of the plants are shaped differently, but have a lot of similarities and are difficult to distinguish from one another when you are in the bushes and everything around you is green. It seemed easy enough that when reaching for a handful of cranberries, one might pick one or two of the baneberries as well. Being that small amounts can do lots of damage, it was alarming. Luckily we were paying close enough attention and avoided any trouble. The highbush cranberry bushes were very tall in that area and the baneberry plants were all below the waste. I passed over all the high bush cranberries that were growing low and discarded any somewhat questionable berries. I rechecked when cleaning the highbush cranberries at home. When juicing the berries for jelly, I didn’t come across any different looking seeds. alaskanescapade.com has an entry that warns about this possible confusion http://alaskanescapade.com/poisonous-plants-of-alaska/red-baneberry/ Alaska poisonous plants
One type of berry I picked a lot of this summer were highbush cranberries. I bought a food mill so that I could easily remove the flat seeds and use the pulp. They are still in my freezer, but one of my friends made a batch of this highbush cranberry ketchup. It ended up being more like sweet and sour sauce. Here is the recipe:
Posted in Highbush cranberry (Viburnum), Recipes
Although not strictly a “berry book”, Medicinal Flora of the Alaska Natives by Ann Garibaldi is an excellent resource to learn about traditional uses of local plants. While we all may know of many ways to utilize the fruits themselves, this book gives information about how other parts of the plant are used as well. For example, the Dena’ina people prepared a tea of crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) leaves for stomach ailments, and while we often think of pumpkin berries (Geocaulon lividum) as inedible the leaves have been used by the Dena’ina people as a poultice.
The book is out of print, but is available for free online as a PDF from the Alaska Natural Heritage Program.
Posted in Sources of Information
Here are a few of my favorite books which include lots of great information on berries in Alaska. Anyone interested in collecting berries in Alaska should add these books to their personal library.
This book identifies most of the edible, non-edible and poisonous plants in Alaska. The big plus with this books are all the recipes provided.
Editors of ALASKA® magazine. 1984. Alaska wild berry guide and cookbook. Alaska Northwest Publishing Company. Alaska.
I’m still reading and exploring this book. Lots of information on medicinal uses and how to harvest and prepare your goodies.
Gray, B. 2011. The boreal herbal. Wild food and Medicine plants of the North. Aroma Borealis Press. Yukon.
This was one of my first Alaskan plant reference books. It was written by one of the pioneers of Alaskan edibles and should be in everyone’s library.
Heller, C.A. 1993. Wild edible and poisonous plants of Alaska. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska.
Verna has explored many areas of Alaska documenting and with her husband, Frank, photographing much of it as well. Her book fits well into a hip pocket and should accompany anyone foraging for Alaskan berries.
Pratt, V.E. 2001/ Alaska’s wild berries and berry-like fruit. Dai Nippon Printing Co. Ltd, Hong Kong.
This book is a brief compilation of Janice’s larger book and is also a great one to take out while harvesting.
Schofield, J. J. 1999. Alaska’s wild plants. A guide to Alaska’s edible harvest. Alaska Northwest Books. Oregon.
This is a must have book. Janice has thoroughly explored each plant within the book’s covers. She provides great anecdotal information which brings to life each and every plant.
Schofield, J.J. 2014. Discovering wild plants. Alaska, Western Canada, the Northwest. Eaton, New Zealand.
Posted in Sources of Information
Alaska Berries is a family farm and winery located on the Kenai Peninsula.The Olsen family operates the farm and winery; they are the only certified Alaska Grown winery in the state, utilizing numerous varieties of cultivated berries grown on their farm. Haskaps, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, saskatoons, gooseberries, and currants can all be found growing at the farm and are then processed on-site into wines, jams, and syrups.
Visit their website to learn more or read this article from the Redoubt Reporter
And if you are in Kenai-Soldotna, stop by their tasting room to sample their delicious product!Alaska BerriesRedoubt Reporter
Posted in Businesses
Junipers and another great Blog:
I have ornamental junipers (J. horizontalis mostly–varieties like Blue Rug) all over the steep parts of my property, and I just noticed that they are finally old enough to produce fruit. According to this blogsite, juniper berries can take more than one year to mature.
Posted in Juniper (Juniperus)
The Alaska Grown Source Book is a place to look for commercial berry growers. It has a produce availability chart that tells you when raspberries and strawberries are available in the state. It also lists all the different farms across Alaska including u-pick locations if there are any in your area. Here is a link from DRN where you go to download the latest guide: Alaska Grown Sourcebook
Posted in Sources of Information
Posted in Foraging
Has anyone seen one of these? I got this from Norway. It is the greatest thing for cleaning berries I have ever found. I have tried to find them online, but with no success.
Posted in Berry Harvesting
This is a Link about a project to plant berries and fruit trees in the city of Philadelphia. Its nice to hear about city projects that are providing growing resources to the citizens.
Posted in Edible Landscaping
When I started harvesting berries I kept coming across a little plant close to the ground that had a little “bunch” of berries at the top. I found out that these were bunchberries, and they grew on plant called a dwarf dogwood (Cornus canadensis). I was told that the berries were edible, but not particularly tasty. Since then I have learned a little more about this plant. Here are some interesting things about the bunchberry:
They are very high in pectin and often mixed into more tasty berries in order to help them set in jams and jellies. In fact you can find recipes for pectin derived from bunchberries available on the internet.
The leaves of the dwarf dogwood turn a beautiful red color in the fall and you can often see them on the mountains here in southcentral Alaska as large patches of red.
They are the ‘fastest’ plant when they open their petals to pollinate (22 feet per second!).
Here is a great source of information on the humble bunchberry:
Interesting article on the ORAC levels in Alaska berries.ORAC
Posted in Health
A story on the history of wild blueberry cultivation and how it began in the pine barrens of New Jersey
Blueberry History
Posted in Blueberries (Vaccinium)
Interesting research about exotic weeds and pollinators of berries
Posted in Invasive Species
Original reports on the ground breaking work done by botanist Frederick Coville on the cultivation of wild blueberries (early 1900s). Surprisingly readable.
Experiments in Blueberry Culture, 1911 – discovery of soil needs of blueberries and implications for commercial production.
Blueberry research
Directions for Blueberry Culture, 1916 – Five years later. What has been learned. Notes work done at Whitebogs, NJ.
Blueberry culture
Posted in Blueberries (Vaccinium)
How Antioxidants actually work:
A brief description (with a little chemistry) of how antioxidants actually function in the body:
Posted in Health
Many folks don’t realize that Cooperative Extension not only has a lot of publications about berries in their catalog, but that there is an easy reference page for them.Cooperative Extension
You don’t have to search through the catalog for each one, all the berry guides are collected on the “All About Berries” page! These publications have recipes, growing advice, and more.
Posted in Sources of Information
Posted in Highbush cranberry (Viburnum), Recipes
HortAlaska Berries 