Presumably, the wild alaska berries provide more health benefits than the lower 48 berries, given their much higher antioxidant counts, said kriya dunlap, an assistant professor in biochemistry at. Make sure an adult decides that a berry is safe before taking a bite. Berry picking alaskas wild berries if you like berry picking, alaskas wild berries the book alaskas wild berries by verna. One safety tactic is to teach children to stay away from all berries. This article in the adn is about the antioxidant content of berries, good picking locations in alaska and some of the things you can do with them once you find them. When i returned to alaska, i quickly educated myself on the wild edibles growing in my back yard. The spring shoots and leaves can also be eaten and can be dried and added to teas.
This book is highly recommended as both a field guide and a cookbook for anyone interested in wild berries of the north. Now an experienced forager, i follow simple rules to protect our health when gathering wild edibles and to be considerate of our friends, neighbors, and fellow foragers. Rubus spectabilis is a shrub growing to 14 m 40160 inches or 1. This rainforest has plenty of precipitation and the temperature remains relatively constant, therefore many plant and fungi species flourish there. With almost 50 kinds of berries growing wild here on the last frontier, youre sure to be close to one or more that will work for jam, jelly or some delectable baked goods.
Our wildberry jams and jellies are made here in anchorage. Some hot spots include chugach state park, denali national park, denali state park, even just around anchorage, such as sheep mountain, flattop mountain trail and rendezvous peak trail. It will take a while to get entirely through this book. The original edition, an authoritative guide book to more than 70 of alaska s most common wild edible plants. Alaska northwest books is an imprint of west margin press. In the book, kari explicitly warns that because wild sweet pea closely resembles wild potato, and is reported to be poisonous, care should be taken to identify.
In general, you should stay away from green, yellow and white berries, while 90 percent of purple, blue and black berries are edible source. Different berries grow better in different parts of the state, but bottom line there are a lot of berries pretty much all over alaska. Fbi agent kate lydecker finds herself out of her element in alaska where she is looking for a witness to help put away a criminal in her current case back in new york. Rasberries and other clustered berries, called aggregate berries, are safe to eat 99 percent of the time source. From the bush to the bottle allows us complete control of the entire process. Chocolate, jelly, meat, and cheese gift packs from alaska including the alaska wilderness gift pack. The words in the ndialect cree are sprinkled and translated throughout the english text, and the back matter includes a.
Beware if you havent made your own jam or jelly in the pastit is fun and very addicting. Alaska northwest books is dedicated to nonfiction and childrens books specifically about alaska. Alaska wild berry products anchorage chocolate and. Alaska wild berry products alaskan chocolate, berry. If youre the least bit unsure, show your berries to a park ranger or someone at a local grocery or lodge before eating. Many berries are commonly available in grocery stores, but other, equally delicious ones are abundant in the wild. Chocolates, jams, jellies, smoked salmon, and gifts from alaska wild berry products. Recipes for cooking with the more abundant and popular species of wild berries indigenous to alaska, from. The alaska wild berry guide and cookbook is an excellent source for someone interested in making use of the many delicious wild berries that dot the alaskan landscape. Common edible berries of interior alaska alaska blueberry vaccinium uliginosum alaska blueberries are lowgrowing shrubs that grow in tundra, open woods, old burn areas, above timberline and in lowlying bogs.
Alaska berries was the first, and currently is the only, winery in the state that is certified as alaska grown. One recipe i personally would like to try is the nagoonberry syrup. Kyani berries are wild alaskan blueberries that have been promoted online and elsewhere for their supposed antiaging powers and for their antioxidant content. The area consists primarily of the tongass national forest, which is a temperate rainforest. Alaska wild berry guide and cookbook by alaska geographic editors. Feast on these 10 edible berries from alaska alaska. Ive seen claims that these berries offer special protection to the nervous system from the effects of aging and help overcome heart disease and diabetes, but ive seen no research. These books have a decidedly alaskan point of view and bring insight. Being the plant nerd that i am, i bought a book of wild alaskan plants before we. Also, consider picking up a book with lots of pictures. Alaska s very best chocolate and souvenirs are at alaska wild berry products. For example, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cranberries are all rich sources for getting vitamins c and k into your diet as well as fiber and calcium.
Wild iris iris setosa goats beard aruncus sylvester devils club. First, as a guide for picking berries, the photos and descriptions are excellent. All the normal berry stuffs snacks on the trail, jams, jellies, various desserts. List of edible plants and mushrooms of southeast alaska. Rubus spectabilis, the salmonberry, is a species of brambles in the rose family, native to the west coast of north america from west central alaska to california, inland as far as idaho. It contains color photographs of all the berries, with their various names. Cooking berries, berries, wild plants, edible publisher anchorage, alaska. Color photographs of each plant accompany a brief description, and a map of alaska is included with each to show where the plants may be found geographically. An illustrated descriptive text of all vascular plants known to occur within the region covered. Alaska wild by helena newbury really lives up to the title by beginning with a plane crash, and then taking you on an adventure through the alaskan wilderness. Many poisonous plants can strongly resemble an edible plant at first glance. Our wild berry jelly center chocolates and candies are thoughtful gifts. Having spent most of my life in southern california, summers are typically scorchingly hot, dry, and brown.
This was my first field guide of any sort and introduced me to foraging for edible berries, a hobby i have had ever since. Southeast alaska has an unusual climate that allows a large number of edible plant and edible mushroom species to grow. Alaska wild berry products makes for a sweet afternoon stop. Alaskan blueberries contain up to 10 times the bioactive compounds and antioxidant capacity when compared to berries grown in lower latitudes. An authoritative guide book to more than 70 of alaskas most common wild edible plants. Chocolates, jams, jellies, smoked salmon, and gifts from alaska wild berry products store hours and locations. With nearly 50 species of berries that grow wild in alaska, this collection takes the more abundant and popular species and shares 200 triedandtrue berry recipes that have been alaskan favorites for decades.
Heres our advice on how to go berry picking in alaska. Identify alaska s multitude of berries through color photos, detailed drawings, and descriptive text. This was an excellent book about how to identify, collect, and can berries from alaska. All photos were taken by an amateur, with amateur equipment. Tuck this guide into a backpack, glove compartment, or pocket and use its color photographs and habitat and plant descriptions to help you discover the bounty of the land and its plants around you. My sister and i will enjoy reading this book for years to come and collecting. Heres a guide to some of the most popular berry picking areas. It might be said that christopher mccandless did indeed starve to death in the alaskan wild, but this only because hed been poisoned, and the poison had rendered him too weak to move about, to. Our gift baskets include delicious chocolates, wild alaskan salmon, and alaskan meats, perfect for friends, family or as corporate gifts. Alaskan wildflowers grouped by color for easy identification x. Wild berries of alaska this has been my first summer in alaska, and let me tell you, there is nothing like it.
A good rule is to not eat anything in the wild unless you can positively identify it without question. Alaska wild berry guide and cookbook by alaska northwest books. Not only are edible wild berries a great wild food and substantial addition to your diet, but theyre packed with sustenance and energizing to eat as well. Identify alaska s multitude of berries through color.
This pocketsized book is a great small field guide to several varieties of alaska s edible, inedible, and poisonous berries. The store was originally founded in 1946 by homer residents kenneth and hazel heath, who began making jams and jellies from alaskan berries. We grow the fruit and berries used in the production of our handcrafted wines and jams. Strawberries fragaria virginiana in addition to the cultivated variety, there is also a wild variety that grows in alaska. Bioactive compounds and healthpromoting properties of berry fruits. Keep an eye out for poisonous baneberries in alaska. Chocolate, jelly, meat, and cheese gift baskets from alaska including the chocolate covered berry basket, the alaska abundance gift basket, and our magnificent mountains of chocolate. Farming these wild berries in particular is an excellent place to begin introducing agriculture to southeast alaska. This is a small paperback field guide, perfect for your backpack. The alaska wild berry cookbook by alaska northwest books. Alaskas wild berries and berry like fruit by verna e. Wild alaskan berry species continue to play a strong role in traditional tribal culture and diet, recognized by an tribes as a contributing factor towards a healthy lifestyle. Berry hunters will treasure this book for identifying the flowers and berries of edible and poisonous berry plants.