We are super busy today, and we will be off again in just a few minutes. So I thought I would share my mini adventuring from last night. I guess most wouldn’t call it an adventure, but everything can be an adventure, and it sounds more fun that way!

I took my daughter’s dog for a walk about 7:00 in the evening and noticed how warm it was even though it was cloudy. This was a welcome discovery as I had been working in my basement on market projects all day, and my basement stays about 60 degrees all summer. I was chilled and it was cloudy, so I thought it would be much cooler outside.

We walked our usual route, but then on a whim I decided to head over to the cloudberry bog and see if there were any this year. Cloudberries need a lot of water, but not standing water. The wetter the early summer is, the more prolific the cloudberries, usually. I didn’t hold out much hope this year because we had quite a warm, dry spring and early summer.

But, to my surprise I found quite a number of them right off the road. So I headed back home for some bug spray and a container. The dog was super excited when I immediately turned back around and headed back out the door with her. She loves walks, and this was 2 in 10 minutes!

We walked back to the bog and stepped out into the swamp. Last year I picked almost a gallon in about an hour. I knew I wouldn’t get that many in the same amount of time this year, but I was able to fill a small cool whip container to heaping in about an hour.

I came home and proceeded to make cloudberry jelly/jam. It’s kind of a mix as the cloudberries have to be strained to get rid of all the seeds, and they break down even as you pick and pile, so they’re pretty juicy, not a very solid berry like a strawberry or blueberry. Consequently there’s a lot of pulp that goes in too, or at least, I add it for volume. I’m not looking for a crystal clear jelly, just something yummy for the winter.

From start of picking to finished jam was about 3 hours, and oh how good it was. My son had been helping a friend for the evening, and when he got home, he walked in and said it sure smelled like cloudberries. They are very distinct in their smell.

Cloudberries are very tart by themselves. They have sections like a raspberry only fewer and bigger. They grow on a plant that looks similar to a strawberry. I have seen people use them raw, but I think they are too sour and bitter to do so, so I prefer them as jam. My kids will eat quite a few raw though. If you are a wild berry picker and you live in Alaska, find a boggy swamp near a lake, and you will probably find cloudberries.