This October we are featuring our favorite of Alaska’s wild fruits, the cranberry. Cranberries in Alaska are plentiful and varied – and so are their names! It can be downright confusing but, from our point of view, we have three distinct wild cranberry fruits in Alaska.
Lowbush cranberries, or lingonberries, are often plentiful in our forests, mountain slopes, and tundra. We use these tart and nutritious berries in our favorite product – lowbush cranberry sauce, and in our lingonberry jam.
Highbush cranberries … well, spoiler alert, these are not true cranberries. But they pack a tart, juicy flavor punch and combine beautifully with the tomato-like texture of rosehips to make an unsurpassed ketchup! They give the Alaskan autumn that musty aroma and we love to munch them as we wander our forest trails. They are certainly our favorite non-cranberry cranberry!
Lastly, and probably least known, are the secretive bog or “true” cranberries that grow hidden in the spongy muskeg surrounding our lakes and ponds. They are back-breaking to pick, as they grow individually and scatter themselves hither and yon across – and often below – the muskeg bogs. For that reason, they are homestead use only when we are lucky enough to find them!
Enjoy our mouth-watering cranberry creations and this throwback to when our daughters were younger picking high-bush cranberries.
