|
i love picking berries, all varieties, but
especially cranberries and huckleberries because they are so
plentiful. crans are found high in the alpine and down low in mossy areas. it's harder to concentrate on the ground when we pick up on mt. macintyre as the views of the fish lake are stunning. this year we only picked low, as the berries were huge, plump and abundant - we gathered 60 lbs of low-bush crans this year. 2 people, 4 hands, 1 plan - fill the ice-cream buckets!!! down at Fraser, the huckleberries (commonly called blueberries) were pretty good but not as large and sweet as previous years due to a colder summer with less sunshine. the jam is mighty fine though over a bowl of yoghurt or on toasted alpine bread. i toss them into sweet lemon loaves as well! people complained about the wet spring and summer, but i had a good feeling that a certain road-side delicacy would thrive in such conditions - the elusive wild strawberry! we have plants everywhere by the cabin and on side roads nearby, but it is rare to see berries as large and profuse as this year. we picked 9 litres, and gobbled up the tiny jars of joy i preserved. there are a few bags tucked away in the freezer for a cold winter's night. my absolute favourite berry of all time is the raspberry. we did not find many in the wild this summer, but managed to collect a couple of bags while in dawson city. i am spoiled to have neighbours with large productive patches, who regularly invite us to share these treats. due to early frost this year however, they did not ripen. it is a sad freezer, one without frozen raspberries! |
 winnowing cranberries - a technique to remove any leaves or twigs. You just need a steady breeze, two buckets and a steady hand. Not recommended for softer berries, like strawberries. |
 we laid out the cranberries this year for an hour or two on screens since they were a little wet from a light drizzle when we picked them. |
|
September 14th, 2008 |
|
|
August 18th, 2008 Our first blueberries and cranberries found together along with these cool mushrooms. At the gravel lake pull-off on the way back from dawson city. This was early for cranberries. |
 |
 |
|
 Our early season gravel lake haul! |
|
|
August 4th, 2008 wild strawberries collected near the cabins and along the roadsides close to home. |
 a beautiful sight to behold! tubs of wild strawberries! |
 these are pretty big for wild strawberries - we can't figure out why birds don't eat them. Our neighbours saskatoon bushes used to get completely stripped by birds before they covered them with mesh... |
|
 |
|
|
October 7th, 2007 Thanksgiving berries |
 these cranberries have a wonderful deep red hugh - this is probably because they have been frosted a few times. Once this happens they become sweeter and juicier. |
 last year we were away from the Yukon during the peak of cranberry picking time - so when we got back we NEEDED to get some berries for thanksgiving. This is our haul from a stop at Jeff and Leyla's new place on MacIntyre creek. We then headed over to Forest and Georgi's and stewed them up to have with dinner. |
|
|
August 18th, 2007 Blind River blueberries |
 on our Vanagon road trip last year to the East Coast, we stopped many times to pick up blueberries. This photo was at the farmer's market in Blind River - on the north shore of Lake Huron. |
 the first of many bowls of blueberries we'd have... |
|
| September 8th, 2006 |
 Fish Lake from the Mt MacIntrye road looking west. This awesome area is just 15 minutes from downtown Whitehorse. Essentially everything you see is covered in cranberries (slight exaggeration...but they are EVERYWHERE). |
 oblivious to the approaching storm from the south... |
|
 |
|
 taking a break from the storm that engulfed us, we learned later it knocked out the power in town. We were safe in our trusty Tercel with a large bucket of berries - it was ALL good. |
|
| September 2nd, 2006 |
 our neighbours prolific raspberry bushes |
 lara in her glory |
|
 two hours of picking |
|
 |
|
|
August 30th, 2006
|
 a nice little patch of cranberries |
 perfectly frosted berries - sweet and juicy |
|
 it doesn't get much better than this |
|
| back to top | |