The blueberries are so ripe now that the best time to pick those are late morning while they are chilled down and the leaves are not so moist, otherwise they fall easily or squish in your fingers.
Observation: Abundance of berries! Because it is important to gather our traditional food for the long winter to come. To eat healthy food that is not processed. Berries have a lot of antioxidants and I've read that they fight off cancer. Dale Stotts mentions, "one thing I've noticed is that there are a lot of VHF announcements here and from Noorvik (we can pick up their radio chatter) from people selling blueberries, cranberries, and akpiks---salmonberries. The blueberries are so ripe now that the best time to pick those are late morning while they are chilled down and the leaves are not so moist, otherwise they fall easily or squish in your fingers. Cranberries are good picking and very plentiful. Can't wait to have some cooked cranberries, really great just cooked, or on your hotcakes. Yummy. Still time for more berry picking, and looks like the weather is clearing up so I reckon we'll be doing some more gathering later on." Linda Stotts
