High bush cranberries: The understated berry of fall

The blueberries, raspberries and salmon berries have all shriveled and fallen. Most people have already picked their share and have moved on to prepare for winter’s grasp. But this is high bush cranberry season and time to harvest my favorite wild-Alaskan berries.

A sure sign of fall is walking through a birch tree forest and taking in the damp, calmness where the sweet aroma of ripe cranberries floats through the trees. I happily pick cranberries and pop them in my mouth during moose season. Everyday that I’m on the water I’ll pull the boat over and munch a few or pick them to bring home while my clients fish. They’re plentiful and there’s not much competition for them.

High bush cranberries are a deep red and are often clumped together with anywhere from two to over a dozen berries on a single stem. The berries sit about a foot to four feet off the ground. What leaves remain on the bushes this time of year are dark red. The berries themselves are round and plump and have a tiny black dot on the bottom. They are very juicy, tart, and have a large flat seed in the middle. I often find them along creeks and rivers, in birch forests and along the edges of swamps and lowland areas. I’ve heard that they taste better after the first frost, which we’ve already experienced out here in Willow.

My wife makes a wonderful cranberry syrup that I enjoy on waffles. Once we’ve picked a large amount of berries, she will wash them and simmer them on the stove. From there she will run them through a cheese cloth to squeeze out all of the juices and keep the skins and seeds separate (something we’ve learned the hard way). She then adds honey and some sugar to the mix before dispersing the liquid into glass jars and submerges them into a water bath for canning. Some people may add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, apple juice or even raspberries to sweeten or “spice” their jams, jellies or syrups.

High bush cranberries are my favorite of all the Alaskan berries because of their prevalence and seemingly lack of popularity. I’ve never come across another person picking cranberries in my favorite spots and I’ve never come across an area that looked to be picked over. I can’t quite say the same for some local blueberry spots in the Valley… I also simply enjoy the tart flavor.

I don’t think I can quite stress enough that you should do your own research on identifying cranberries before picking your own. There are other berries that may look similar, like the low high cranberry which are edible, or others that can be quite dangerous to the untrained eye. Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with cranberries before picking them.

Perhaps this fall you will venture out into the woods in search of your own cranberries. I can think of nothing better than serving up my very own cranberry syrup for a Thanksgiving feast. Give it a try, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.