Sunday, September 4, 2011

Berry Picking

August is the month for berry picking in Alaska. This year a moth hit blueberry plants in Anchorage, Girdwood, and the Kenai Peninsula. The caterpillar in the spring stripped the blueberry plants of leaves. It will take about 3 years to recover. The Kenai Peninsula got hit first so they will recover faster.

I tried my favorite Girdwood spot with my friend Sarah while Mike watched all the kids at the blueberry festival in hopes that maybe it wasn't bad at that elevation but it was a no go. I did hear about a good spot for high bush cranberries, currants and rosehips and I hit that spot three times. We also traveled to the Denali Highway for blueberries and camped over night with the kids in a pull over they had at the campsite. Since it was a long drive for an overnight and it was a rainy weekend we didn't tent camp. There were lots of blue berries there but they were low bush ones so they are hard to pick.Teddy was being crabby while we were picking so even with an extra adult we couldn't pick as much as I hoped. Delia picked a handful and Teddy kept saying he picked 3 blueberries while holding up his empty bag. I always try to do lots of outdoor stuff with the kids but I guess Teddy is my city slicker at least now. Hopefully he will get better ; )

I went with some people from the local food challenge group last weekend to try for some blueberries closer to home but it was too popular of a spot this year with other local
 spots being hit by the moth. We only got a little and then went for some of the other types of berries at the other spot. I will not names these spots by name on here ; ) Last weekend was a gorgeous weekend for hiking with just the baby and it nice to share the ride with others.


Delia blueberry picking


What he really looked like berry picking grumpy with an empty bag 


Teddy ready for bed

Breakfast while camping


Picking with just the baby on a gorgeous day







I did get some berries and will do the next post on the processing of the berries. As usual though I promise to do better next year and get the mother load. ; )



























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