newsminer.com

Photo by John Wagner

Photo by John Wagner

FAIRBANKS — Depending on who you talk to, the wild blueberry crop this season is iffy, non-existent or as good as ever.

Keep in mind, berry pickers — like politicians — aren’t always forthcoming with factual information.

Ask a berry picker where the picking is good and prepare to be stonewalled, especially this season. Few people are, or ever have been, willing to share specific blueberry patch locations.

And now the tiny blue fruit has risen mightily in stature since scientific research concluded Alaska blueberries contain high levels of antioxidants. Now, berry patches are even more coveted.

According to Roxie Rodgers Dinstel at the Cooperative Extension Service, there are blueberries out there just waiting to be picked, but harvesting may require a bit more effort this year.

By the end of last week, Geoff Wool of Hot Licks Ice Cream was still about 1,000 pounds short of Alaska blueberries that he buys from individual pickers every summer to make ice cream.

Wool pays $5 per pound or about $30 per gallon, which usually averages in weight between 5 and 6 pounds. But the blueberry season is a couple weeks late this year, and Wool isn’t worrying just yet that he won’t meet his quota.

“I haven’t made any phone calls or placed any ads,” Wool said. “We’ve been buying for so many years, that 80-90 percent of the blueberries come from several hardcore (berry) pickers.”

Blueberries usually can be found in bogs and higher on south facing slopes, especially areas burned four years ago.

An enterprising blueberry seeker, Kathy Dubbs queried blueberry picking information from members of the large Cabin Fever Quilters Guild via e-mail recently. Dubbs did receive replies and a few locations to try her luck, most a good distance out of town.

From the many phone calls Dinstel has received in recent weeks, there are few easy picking spots close to the road system.

“You have to go further away and hike a little deeper and a little higher this year,” Dinstel said. “Some of the traditional berrypicking spots are all under water.”

The good news, Dinstel said, is that it’s a banner year for highbush and lowbush cranberries (also known as lingonberries). Both are in abundant supply, and Alaska wild cranberries have twice the antioxidant levels of Alaska blueberries and three times the antioxidant level of commercial blueberries.

Dinstel’s theory about the spotty blueberry patches is that when it started raining this summer, the blueberries were in bloom and the blossoms were washed away. The rainy weather also might have lessened the amount of pollination taking place, she added.

Marsha Munsell, a nutrition educator at CES, suggested that in addition to picking blueberries and cranberries, stock up on rose hips as well.

“Rose hips are available right now and best if they have had a light frost,” she said. “They can be dried for tea or the seeds removed and used for different kinds of jam or combined with other fruits to make fruit leather.”

Harvesting wild foods can provide extra nutrition with little extra cost.

“It’s time, not money,” Munsell said. “I advocate gathering, period. Even our common weeds such as chickweed and lamb’s quarters and dandelion greens are all very high in vitamin A. Lamb’s quarters is a lot like spinach, and is mild as well as chickweed, and both have a little bit of protein.”

Munsell also offers tips on cleaning and storing blueberries and cranberries.

“An easy way to clean them is to put a terry towel on a cookie sheet and allow the berries to roll to the other end, then tip the cookie sheet at a corner and roll them into a bowl.”

Berries can be pre-measured for favorite recipes before freezing. And to “save the integrity of berries without having them mushed,” Munsell recommends freezing them separately on a cookie sheet and then packing them in freezer containers.

A special berry treat developed by Munsell’s friend, Debbie Gonzales, is to freeze raspberries and blueberries and then dip them individually in chocolate and refreeze, pulling them out for special occasions.

Information on Alaska’s wild berry recipes can be accessed at the Cooperative Extension Service’s Web site, www.uaf.edu/ces, then click on publications.

As for making jams and jellies, Dinstel said, “We may just have to transfer our recipes over and instead of doing blueberries do lingonberries this year.”

Dinstel will be demonstrating how to make jams and jellies from various Alaska wild berries from 6-9 p.m. Thursday at the Fairbanks Community Food Bank, 725 26th Ave. Class size is limited. Call 474-2450 to register.