August 19

Little Susitna River, Houston: Lowbush cranberries are quite red with some white unripe blotches remaining on undersides; most berries crunchy. A few plants are still flowering. Everything is looking good for picking later. Very impressive bunchberries this year, good snacks. Also snacked on nice timberberries and found a few trailing currants for snacks, too soft to keep.

August 5

Swamp land, Big Lake: Tried to pick every kind of berry around. Picked tons of wild raspberries. Also picked quite a few red currants and very ripe watermelon berries (almost too squishy to get.) Picked many perfect trailing black currants from one spot. Picked a few ripe crowberries, cloudberries, and rosehips here and there. Snacked on ripe timberberries. Lowbush cranberries are large and green and highbush are turning red. Huge, interesting mushrooms are everywhere as well as a ton of mourning cloak caterpillars in feeding frenzies.

June 2

Woods, Wasilla: Roses have been blooming around the Valley. Watermelon berries and high and lowbush cranberries are all flowering. Most red currants have small green berries forming, some are still flowering. Raspberry flowers are generally buds. Spruce tips are super good this year so we’ve been eating a lot.