Matanuska River Park, Palmer: Highbush cranberries are cherry red and good to snack on; tart. Serviceberries are nice and ripe or past their prime (shriveled). Soapberries are ripe. There are still watermelon berries to snack on.
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.
July 31
Woods, Big Lake: picked lots of raspberries and some bog blueberries. Lots of good watermelon berries around and pretty good bunchberries too.
July 8
Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge, Wasilla: Northern black currants starting to turn blue/black. Most still green. Watermelon berries green. Bog cranberry flowering.
July 3
Swamp land, Big Lake: Bog blueberries are big and green. Red currants are beginning to look pink. (Berries on other currants here are greener still.) Most elderberry flowers have dropped off their green berries. Watermelon plants are flowering or have small green berries. Raspberries small and green. Bog cranberry flowering. Cloudberry has small, hard berries.
June 18
Calvin and Coyle Woodland Park, Homer: Many berry plants flowering. Trailing raspberry, nagoonberry, cloudberry, watermelon berry, along with roses and many other wildflowers. Red currants and trailing black currants, and elderberry have small/medium green berries and a few flowers still here and there. Beach peas blooming and sea chickweed vining all over the peninsula beaches, very pretty.
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.
May 19
Resurrection Pass Trail, Hope: Crowberries flowering very nicely. Trailing raspberries flowering in some patches. Ate watermelon berry greens. Still some snow around. (Caribou Creek Cabin.)
May 10
Resurrection Pass Trail, Hope: Ate lots of very sweet watermelon berry shoots (salad). The trail still has snow and I didn’t see a ton of flowers around, although currants are flowering everywhere I’ve seen the plants.
August 19
Alcantra, Wasilla: Highbush cranberry in these woods and all over the Valley are turning clear, ripe enough to pick, though later is better. Rosehips are pretty good everywhere. Some old red currants, watermelon berry, etc. are still available.
Alaska Berry Blog 