33 years ago, we made our first batch of birch syrup in a small wood-fired pan on the front porch at our Kahiltna River homestead. Though it was strong and dark – and probably slightly burnt – we decided it was unusual and good. We got better at it and grew to love it. Feeling…
Sap harvest 2022 is over. We collected our last sap on May 7th. Harvest lasted a good 20 days but proved to be an unpredictable and lower production season. How can we explain? It really is a lesson in the fact that not everything can be easily explained. The sap ran erratically, starting in many…
Not to confuse the issue, we are trying to eliminate confusion on our runs of pure birch syrup. So, instead of “Reserve, FIRST run, Mid run, Late run” we are changing it to “Reserve, EARLY run, Mid run, and Late run.” Linguistically speaking it makes more sense, early run being the early part of the…
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…
LAST WEEKEND in Talkeetna, Friday-Sunday 10-6. Grab a jar of our fall specialty very limited edition- old fashioned birch apple butter, made on Sunday from the apples and crabapples at our “roadhouse”. And of course a good dose of birch syrup to sweeten. Get it while you can and enjoy the last of the ice…
In many ways this summer is an extraordinary one and I find myself trying to breathe through it, and my mask. We have somehow made it through July. While our usual steady stream of tourists slowed to barely a trickle, masked Alaskans are showing their support of small businesses and are filling our porch, enjoying…
In Alaska the snow is finally melting, and the sap has started to run in the birches. If you are in a northern clime, get out of the house and tap a few birch trees! Drink that sap! It’s the perfect spring tonic – full of electrolytes, minerals, and micro-nutrients. This is a rewarding activity…
Sap happened early this year – in fact, the earliest ever in our 30 years of tapping birches in Alaska. Yes, it’s our 30th Anniversary! It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since deciding, all those years ago on the homestead, that it was a concept worthy of investment and a way to…
Even though it’s snowing hard outside, somehow spring is in the air and we are starting to prepare for our 30th year tapping the birches. Sap harvest arrives every year along with the mud and mess of Alaska’s spring breakup. Enjoy this take on “breakup” in Alaska, and what it means to birch sap harvesters.…
Salmonberries From Birch to Berries – Summer 2018 comes to a close It’s August and our short Alaska summer is flying by! We have had a warm and sunny summer in Talkeetna, but the August rains have settled in the past few days. The gardens are thriving, the berry season is coming on and our…