{"id":244,"date":"2014-08-09T17:41:37","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T17:41:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/?p=244"},"modified":"2014-09-13T19:16:25","modified_gmt":"2014-09-14T03:16:25","slug":"babe-of-the-woods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/outdooradventure\/babe-of-the-woods\/","title":{"rendered":"Babe of the Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am one-step closer to being an \u201cAlaskan Babe in the Woods,\u201d the ultimate frontier woman: hunter, gatherer, gardener, angler, carpenter, mechanic and of course, the perfect wife and mother. NOT!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Berry<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

My good buddy, Annette Smith, and I recently spent several hours crawling around a scenic, but\u00a0 soggy meadow\u00a0 gathering<\/span> nagoonberries<\/a>. Nagoonberries resemble a raspberry growing on a strawberry\u00a0plant. To me, they\u00a0taste like a tart raspberry. They are\u00a0 high in vitamin C, just the justification I needed to scarf down about as many\u00a0as I brought home. A long-time Juneau resident, Annette will make jam and marinades from the berries this winter\u00a0when Juneau\u2019s days are short and dark.<\/span><\/p>\n

Annette is a true Babe of the Woods. She hunts, fishes and gathers \u201cwild\u201d vegetation for subsistence\u00a0. Her two freezers are well stocked and she has cases of canned jellies, jams, ketchup\u00a0and marinades. Subsistence is defined by federal law as “the customary and traditional uses by rural Alaskan residents of wild renewable resources for direct personal or family consumption as food, shelter, fuel, tools, or transportation… .”<\/span><\/p>\n

After\u00a0 two hours crawling about in the drizzle and wet vegetation, I was soaked. Despite an attack by a swarm of<\/span> no-see-ums<\/a>, aka \u201cbiting jaws,\u201d it was an adventure. And, I have the \u00a0facial\u00a0welts to prove it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Berry picking season is highly anticipated by many Alaskans<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Berry<\/a>According to <\/span>Collecting and Using Alaska\u2019s Wild Berries and Other Products<\/em>,<\/span><\/a><\/span> nagoonberries are used for making jams, jellies, fruit punch, syrup,\u00a0 cakes, pies, crisps and more. Published by the<\/span> Cooperative Extension Services, University of Alaska Fairbanks<\/span><\/a>, this $10 book offers recipes for many wild Alaskan berries, including salmon berries, blueberries, currents, red huckleberries, watermelon berries and high-bush cranberries (not a true cranberry).\u00a0 See recipes below<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bears love nagoonberries and since we were scavenging in a remote area, Annette suggested I sing to let the bears know of my presence. Nagoonberries grow low to the ground among the sedge grasses, ferns, wild irises, dwarf dogwood, mosses\u00a0and lichens. Scurrying about on hands and knees, hidden by tall vegetation, it is easy to accidentally sneak up on a bear intent on eating sweet treats.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Black
Black Bear Scat\/Poop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0We didn\u2019t see any bears. Darn! But, we saw evidence of bears, including\u00a0bear scat, which I scooted into twice. EUUUU!\u00a0 After my second contact, I quit scooting and\u00a0began crawling\u00a0 instead (I was wearing rubber gloves and rain pants).<\/span><\/p>\n

In Alaska, Mother Nature provides a bounty of organic foods if you know where to look. That said, I had no idea nagoonberries existed much less where to look for them. Alaskan berry gatherers, including Annette, are very protective of their berry caches. Nagoonberry patches are not found in sizable quantities, and are soft and easily crushed. I will say, Annette\u2019s prodigious and productive cache is \u201cout the road,\u201d but she threatened me with death by no-see-ums if I divulge any further clues to the location\u00a0of her\u00a0secret beach\u00a0meadow.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a great place for true natural foods,\u201d chimes Annette. \u201cI have frozen, canned or dried spruce tips, nagoonberries, red huckleberries, blue huckleberries, blueberries, lingonberries, high bush cranberries and bog cranberries. \u201c I also preserve chanterelles and shaggy manes (mushrooms) for to add to\u00a0<\/span>soups,\u00a0 gravies and sauces.<\/span><\/p>\n

For protein, she as a cache of frozen and smoked venison (deer), halibut, rockfish, red snapper and king, coho, and sockeye salmon. A sharp shooter, she has sustenance hunted for musk ox, moose, elk, bear, mountain goat, dall sheep, grouse and a variety of waterfowl.<\/span><\/p>\n

In conclusion, gathering the nagoonberries\u00a0was adventurous, but considering the time we spent gathering and cleaning the berries, I will just buy organic jellies and jams in the future. A Babe of the Woods I am not, at least not yet.<\/span> ============================================================================<\/p>\n

Recipes courtesy of the Cooperative Extension Services, University of Alaska Fairbanks<\/strong><\/span>. For more information check out the extension\u2019s<\/span> nagoonberry recipes<\/a> page.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nagoonberry\u00a0Tea, Punch\u00a0or Sorbet<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n