Arctic Valley- photo post

As we are getting closer to berry picking season (yay!), we are checking out some of our favorite spots for berries. Some of them I won't show pictures of because they are secret places my family goes to, but others, like Arctic Valley, are well-known enough that I'm happy to show pictures.

Arctic Valley has a lot of kinds of berries available, but what we plan to go there specifically for is crowberries. In a lot of the books I have, it says that aren't choice berries. Well, that's what the books say.  The Elders I've spoken to love them and my family will eat them out of hand as well as using them for jam and pies. Not that we will turn down other berries! Of course we will pick what's available. Obligatory warning: NEVER EVER EAT A BERRY OR MUSHROOM YOU AREN'T CERTAIN OF IN YOUR IDENTIFICATION.

So we were checking out how it looks this year. It's still early, but we decided we would have 2 days of specifically picking for Elders. One of those days will be crowberries.

The drive up is one of those typically Alaskan gorgeous drives. There's a lot of it that is dirt roads, with a few pull outs to take in the scenery. In one of those pull outs, Michael spotted a rabbit.

William and The Amazing Turnip Girl love it up there.

A lot of the photos I took are for a project I'm working on to help my family identify berries in all stages of growth. I will be putting that together in e-book form as well, with recipes. Today I also took photos of some flowers. I hope you enjoy them. 

 Lots of robins up there singing, it was a very nice time.

Some of us are foraging coloring page

First- this design IS available on a shirt without the striped background at my Redbubble shop.

You can get it here- Foraging Shirt

But you can also download and color this page.

Click the images below for larger versions to print and color.

Some of us are foraging small jpg version:

Some of us are foraging lg transparent png version:

Berry Picking- Photo post

Last night, a friend called, and asked "Do you want to go pick currants tomorrow evening?"

Who could possibly turn down a chance to go berry picking with a friend? A friend of hers had invited her out to her property to pick berries. I asked TG, and she was super enthused about the idea too.

Some of these photos are a little hazy, because at some point, I smudged my camera lens and didn't notice until getting the photos off my camera. Whoops! Probably smudged it with berry juice. Click on the images for larger versions.

Cat's friend lives out in the Palmer area. About an hour from Anchorage. Since Cat got off work at 6, and Michael had to be at work at 11, that did limit our time a bit. The drive, as always, was incredible. The weather was also very cooperative. We all wore pants and long sleeves to help prevent mosquito bites.

When we got there, Cat's friend, Mary Ann was waiting with her dogs. She was a marvelous hostess, she gave us a tour of the paths around her cabin. There were currants, cranberries, watermelon berries and roses gone to rose hips. The currants and watermelon berries were ready to pick. TG and I were there for currants!

Mary Ann walked us to a spot with a log to sit on, surrounded by bushes just dripping, heavy with berries. TG had made berry buckets the night before with empty milk jugs.

We picked and picked and picked.

Michael, who had just woken up, sat on a bench and took photos, soaking in the incredible view of the river and mountains. 

One of the photos he took.

TG had lots of fun! (after the lens got smudged unfortunately)

When it started getting close to time, we walked around a bit more with Mary Ann. She and TG went up ahead, and Mary Ann was showing her berries.

She got along well with the dogs as well.

Check out this amazing view! From left to right, the silhouettes are TG, Mary Ann, and Cat.

Just for fun, this a tree out there, it's a dead tree, with a great, Halloween reaching shape. Mary Ann decided it needed a face.

Yes. It really is that pretty out there. There are also cranberries ripening, and she invited us back out. A really nice lady, a good time with a friend, and a lovely way to spend an evening!