Tag Archives: blueberries

Risky Raspberries

The blueberry season this year in the Interior wasn’t anything to write home about. They were out there, but you had to work for them and cover some serious ground doing so.

The raspberries this year have been another story. They seem to be everywhere. There are plants around my cabin that I didn’t even know about, and they are loaded with berries. Anytime I want them, I just go outside the door and fill a bowl.

The raspberry patch in the photo I have known about, but the wasp nest came as a bit of a surprise, although it probably shouldn’t have. In the same area of the “yard” last year, wasps had completely encased an old bird feeder with their nest.
This summer has not been a “bee year”, as I have not had any issues on any job sites at all. I usually get chased down the extension ladder once or twice in a normal building season, but that has not happened this year. In an actual “bee year”, that has been known to happen several times a day.


Right Around the Corner

Blueberries
Photo credit: Daily News-Miner

I was walking down the trail when I came across two Native women inspecting the ground alongside the path.

“They out yet?” I asked as I passed them.

“Have you seen any?” One asked in reply.

“No, I haven’t, but I wouldn’t trust my judgement.”

The second woman said, “I think it’s a bit early, but they are right around the corner!”

I agreed it was too early, but she was also correct that the blueberries would be ‘right around the corner’. Once that happens, the trail would be lined with people carrying little, red, berry pickers and white, plastic buckets.

I’m not a fan of combat fishing, and I have no patience for combat berry picking, but it is a social event that many others mark on their calendars. I know where there are always blueberries on the Back 40 that my friends and I go to when the urge comes to stock up, but for the most part that bounty gets eaten by the birds and the bears.

Still, for a period of time every summer, Interior Alaska sets up an all you can eat buffet for blueberry fans. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the competition… both four legged and two.