Editor’s note: This is the last of Corinne Conlon’s foraging columns for the year. “Gathering Alaska” will return to the Capital City Weekly next spring.
Sitting in the midst of strawberry patch on a sunny day or being in the muskeg on a crisp day surrounded by Labrador tea are the reasons I like to forage. The lemony smell of Hudson Bay tea that accompanies cranberry foraging trips is like walking with a best friend.
Compared to nagoonberries, which are a single berry that grows low the ground, cranberries are even more tedious to pick. Bog cranberries grow on a small threadlike vine over moss in the wettest areas. During most years, the berries are small and spread apart. A good harvest can result in a cup of berries. In a good season, like the one we are having, the cranberries are as big as a dime.
Over the course of the summer, I keep my eye out for places to return in the fall. This year I made a mental note to return to a certain meadow, two clumps of Sitka spruce trees near a slough. I feel a bit like a squirrel when I do this, but cranberries are worth it.
We have a lot of muskeg areas here, but you have to search for just that right section. Occasionally, you are lucky enough to pick berries growing so close together that it feels like picking grapes. I do a lot of wandering to find just those spots and, on those days when Labrador tea is creating that delicate smell, scouting is not a bad vocation.
The debate of when to pick bog cranberries is as controversial as which political candidate you support. There are those who feel that you have to wait for a light frost, whereas others believe that you should pick them before.
Like root vegetables, frost triggers the cranberry to convert starches to sugar. You can sometimes trick the berry into transforming the starch into sugar by putting it in the freezer for a half hour — long enough to freeze the outside of the berry.
Cranberries will be tart and any increased natural sugar means less sugar you have to use. The problem is that finding a window of post-frost, pre-cranberry mush can be difficult, especially when we get those fall rains which quickly rot the berries.
I find myself in favor of picking when the temperatures are cool, but before the frost. I try to pick the berry when it is more burgundy than red and has a muted sheen. I always want to pick cranberries that are completely red, but sometimes it’s difficult to see that the underside is white until after it is picked.
Even on a good year, I don’t end up with much. I’ll have enough to make a cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and if I’m lucky, enough to make a savory sauce to put on sweet potatoes. Cranberries freeze well and are easy enough to throw into muffins and quick breads or added as a colorful accent in galletes or crumbles.
As much as I appreciate the cranberry and eating local, the greatest thing about cranberries for me is getting out on those last fall days before the weather forecast calls for 100 percent chance of rain. And, if it’s dry enough, there’s always a chance to catch the lemony aroma of Labrador tea.
• Corinne Conlon is a freelance writer based out of Juneau. She can be reached at dirtgirlgardening@gmail.com.
