BLUEBERRIES!!

One of the cool things about living basically in a wilderness is there are treats to be found.  Here in Alaska we have bears.  Since we have bears we also have berries for them to munch on (besides the salmon).  A unique berry is the salmonberry.  Size wise they are bigger than a raspberry and smaller than a blackberry.  They come in a yellow and a salmon orange /yellow /red.  We also have huckleberries, gooseberries, and best of all BLUEBERRIES.

The berries are very accessible.  Sometimes just off the road, next to the driveway, along trails, etc.  Last month Lori and I went up to Thimbleberry Lake (I have no idea if there is such a thing as a thimbleberry) and spent an hour picking blueberries and ended up with about 2 quarts.   Pancakes, cookies, pie... good stuff.

  The drawback is that these are wild and need to be checked before eating... some have worms.  We are told the process is easy:  put them in water and the ones that float have worms.  

Yesterday Charles, Lori and I went up Harbor Mtn. and hiked a bit.  On the way down Lori noticed soda cans on branches of bushes on the roadside.  She figured they marked areas with berries.  Sure enough, we found a huge amount of blueberries at one location.  In just a short time we had another 2 quarts.

According to a couple of neighbors this has been very good year for berries.  The first summer we were here even the locals were complaining about the lack of berries.  We had several bear problems with them looking for other things to eat.

What a great way to get some good nutrition that tastes great.