BLUEBERRY Time in the North

[Sourdough]

Sweet, juicy, delicious Blueberry's by the billions, You could not go hungry around here for the next 80 Days. Some are splitting open with excess goodness. Salmon and Blueberry's, man the bears have it figured out...

[RobertRogers]

Yes indeed, here in northern New Hampshire its ripe with wild blueberries. These juicy delectables help get the bears fat for winter and do pretty well with me too.

Raspberries are going by, but blackberries are ripening and in a few weeks will be in their prime.

[Rick]

This is such a great time of year in AK. I would imagine the Salmon are running right now, aren't they? Small streams should to shoulder with them. (Do Salmon have shoulders?).

[trax]

blueberries, saskatoons, raspberries are all being picked around here now. It's a wonderful time to be alive.

[nell67]

Wish I had some blueberries! Raspberries are over here now,but blackberries are doing very well.

[klkak]

Blue berries and service berries are almost ready here and it looks like its gonna be a bumper crop of highbush cranberries this fall.

[Riverrat]

Blueberries, raspberries, and soon blackberries....Jams all over the place, gotte love it...

[wildWoman]

We're having an extremely dry summer here and all berries except for the soapberries are shrivelled microscopic thingies...just as I was planning on major jam making this year....

[trax]

aw that sucks WW, a season without blueberry pie is a season in HELL!!

[wildWoman]

Yeah...well eat an extra one on our behalf!

[trax]

Yeah...well eat an extra one on our behalf!

Absolutely! Glad I can help!

[Rick]

Did you at least get an ice cream while you were in civilization?

[wildWoman]

You bet. First thing I did as soon as I reached the village was go into the store and buy icecream. It was only 9am and maybe a weird item to have for breakfast, but oh so good...and then I splurged a couple more times.

[Rick]

I sort of knew you would.

Do you still have any ice floating around up there?

[wildWoman]

In some places...I went to the very source of the Yukon River, Llewellyn Glacier, and there were icebergs where the glacier calves into a lake. Other than that, it's still summer, but thank god what with the berries ripening and it actually being dark now a few hours at night, it's noticeable that winter is coming! Yippeee!!!!!!!!!

[Rick]

Here's a quick recipe I posted elsewhere for ice cream. It only takes about five minutes and I'll bet you could make it there.

1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
Ice cubes

1. Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
4. Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

[Rick]

I've used regular table salt and it works just fine and so does 1% milk. I haven't tried powdered milk but it should work as well. It's more like a thick custard but it's still good. And it WILL give you a brain freeze!

[wareagle69]

we are haveing a banner year here for berries paper said 40 days of rain out of the last 50 days lots of folks whining means we are also have a bumper crop of skeeters but i have learned that if i do not scratch the bite in the first 20 minutes then it goes away also jewelweed helps we are making rasberry jam this weekend

[Ole WV Coot]

Plentiful didn't make it to WV. I paid $5 last night for 2 little plastic cartons, kinda like my Grandpa raising 300 acres of potatoes and getting the same price per barrel as a large serving of french fries back in 1960.

[wareagle69]

blueberries are starting to dry up but me and mrs eagle pickes a couple quarts of raspberries i didn't realize how many plants i had out there in the bush there are acres of them but way more diffucult to pick and do not last near as long but we frooze some and mrs says will make jam this fall