Fall Harvest
Spring in Alaska happens quickly. Longer days and more sun return, but buds are slow to unfurl in fear of a late spring frost. In May, when the threat of frost is mostly gone, plant life explodes and before we know it, summer is upon us. With a short growing season we nourish our gardens with seaweed with the intention of avoiding the sad supermarket produce. Then summer truly hits and we hustle so as not to miss any of the short wild harvest season. Seaweed and beach greens in early summer lead to blueberries and enough salmon in late summer to make it through the long winter.
Like the packages of fish you get in your share, we Alaskans vacuum seal and blast-freeze our own fish to best preserve it. Often we are out fishing and don’t have time to smoke or can our own fish, so filling the freezer is the first priority. Once our freezers are starting to fill up in late summer, it’s time to clean up the smoker to smoke and can salmon. We rely heavily on our freezers all winter so having some canned food helps save freezer space for other wild delicacies.
Once all of my canning jars are full of salmon and the freezer is crammed with blueberries and salmon, it’s time to switch gears to crab. We either make the 2 hour trip to the dungeness crab grounds or we buy crab from local fishermen right off the dock closer to home. Carefully, we boil and pick the crab meat to enjoy during the depths of winter and save their shells to make delicious crab stock. Shrimp and crab stock are year-round staples at our house, often used in soups, curries, risottos, and paellas. Save your shells and make stock!
Fall rains send salmon swimming to their natal streams and wild mushrooms pop up throughout the forest. We explore the wilds in search of hedgehogs or golden chanterelles, hoping to hit the motherload. I like to sauté the hedgehogs and chanterelles in a dry pan to remove moisture and then add herbs and butter. I hate missing out on any of the wild harvest and preserving food makes the short season last so much longer. A packet of frozen wild mushrooms and dungeness crab can bring the taste of the fall to a dark February dinner. Enjoy the salmon in your shares, they are a perfectly-preserved taste of the wild Alaskan summer.
