Bountiful Berries

Alaska berry season is coming into full swing!  There seems to be little orbs of color everywhere you look.  Picking berries is definitely one of my favorite past times and this year I hope to make some jams/jellies/syrups to show for it.  Luckily, I have a plethora of berries right in my backyard!  Here is a little look at what is growing.

We have done a lot of tree removal since moving to our place and now we have a lot more space for berry bushes!  In the spirit of this, we planted some raspberry bushes earlier this summer.  Usually you can expect not to have any fruit production the first year but we have been fortunate in the fact that both of the bushes we planted have multiple berries on them.  We planted one red berry bush and one yellow berry bush.  I have not had the yellow so I am pretty excited about those but they are not as mature as the red yet.  I ate the first red raspberry last evening and it was delicious!  I can hardly wait for the rest of these to ripen up! 

Red Raspberry

We have also found multiple wild highbush cranberry (aka Mooseberry) bushes scattered throughout the yard.   They are quite tart right now and need a couple more weeks to fully ripen.  I have never used these berries before but am excited to try a jam/jelly from them!

Highbush Cranberry

 
One of the previous owners of the property planted two chokecherry trees.  However, only one of the trees has ripe berries at the moment.  Despite my previous vow to never pick another chokecherry as long I lived, I find a hankering for some chokecherry syrup.  Perhaps my hard-earned chokecherry picking skills from my youth will serve me in this endeavor!

Chokecherry

Twisted-stalk fruit or "watermelon berry" is a delicious, juicy berry that does not taste like watermelon.  Why it is called this, I don't know.  Apparently, you can eat not only the berries but also the leaves.  It is said to have a cucumber-like flavor.  I have not tried this but do enjoy eating the berries from time to time.  We only have one small plant so I will not be able to make any syrup or jelly this year.

Watermelon Berry

Among the edibles, there are an equal number of poisonous berries.   Elderberries falls under this category.  I did find that cooking these berries may make them edible but I value my life so will not be attempting this.  

Elderberries

Baneberry, aka snake berry or doll's eyes (creepy!), is another poisonous beauty.  Despite its deadly potential, it is a very interesting plant because the berries go from bright red, below, to a stark white in full maturity. 

Baneberry

Not addressed in this post was the all important blueberry.  I hope to have a chance at those later this year.  Until that time, I will have to enjoy the more accessible blueberries via Costco!

Alaska Fun Fact: Eskimo ice cream, akutaq, is a common food in western Alaska.  It consists of whipping animal fat and berries.  Cranberries, salmonberries, crowberries, cloudberries, and blueberries are commonly used.  It may also be made with meat, leaves, or roots.