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| Ethan Harvesting Fireweed July 2015 |
For those of you who are not familiar with fireweed, it is a perennial known for its ability to regenerate in some of the toughest climates. Ironically, our research indicates that it got its name because it is one of the first plants to reappear following fire within a region. If that is the case, I fear all of Alaska may have been burned at some point because it is hard to escape the breathtaking beauty of its skyward-reaching blossoms - they are everywhere! Locals lovingly (and comically) refer to themselves during this time of year as having "fireweed fever." It must be a real thing because I think I have contracted it.
For nearly a week, I have been planning an attack along multiple roadside venues in preparation of harvesting at least a garbage bag or two or petals. I've never canned anything in my life, but I have been so anxious to try fireweed jelly, that it's almost as if a sickness has overtaken my brain -- looking at weather forecasts, waiting for canning equipment to go on sale at any of our local establishments (and almost not caring if it doesn't!), and praying that the fireweed will continue to bloom until I have all of my supplies at the ready. Fireweed Fever is definitely diagnosable! I broke down Wednesday and bought all of the canning supplies at Walmart -- which just happened to be having a sale!
Thank the Lord for my poor husband and sons that humor this ailment. I think they are anxious to try some of the jelly, too; but the fireweed bug didn't bite them as hard as it bit me. As the good Lord would have it, we were out running errands yesterday on one of Michael's coveted days off. On the way home, we scoured the roadside, and like any good Alaskan, we found the perfect spot to pull over and chop weeds. Literally...
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| Based on the Blooms, Summer Appears to Be About 2/3 Complete! |
I can honestly say that I don't think I would be comfortable doing something like that in any other state; but here...well, you can just get away with that sort of thing. Ethan was first in on the action, as he had brought along his hunting knife. Keep in mind, he can skin some of Alaska's largest fish and mammals with that knife, but yesterday he sharpened it on fireweed stalks. Fireweed can grow as tall as nine feet and is used by the Natives to measure the length of summer. It blooms from bottom to top, and the best jelly is made from open blossoms. When it begins to bloom, that marks the beginning of warmer weather and summer. When the blooms are open near the top of the stalk, summer is almost over. It's amazing to me how God uses even the plants to illustrate His expertise throughout creation. What is even more amazing is that He allows us to share it.
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| 8 Cups of Fresh Fireweed |
So after carefully harvesting a large kitchen trash bag full of fireweed stalks, we had enough for our first batch of homemade jelly. Yay! We pulled blossoms before church, washed them, and refrigerated them until we could get home to finish. We boiled the blossoms in a concoction of lemon juice and water for 10 minutes, then strained the juice.
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| Fireweed Concoction |
We reboiled the juice with jelly pectin and sugar, poured into jars, sealed in a boiling water bath, and voila! Homemade fireweed jelly! And...it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I thought we had enough to share, but alas...we do not. Bahaha!
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| Not Enough to Share... |
I can definitely understand why this is a feature at our local farmers' markets and craft fairs! Speaking of... Ethan and I had date day Saturday morning, and visited the Palmer Garden and Art Walk. First stop was Vagabond Blues coffee for French Vanilla, Hot Cocoa, and a giant chocolate chip cookie. I know...I'm a terrible mother...cocoa and cookies for breakfast! Hey...before you judge...it was Date Day. Date Days are special occasions, and we do things we wouldn't normally do, eat things we wouldn't normally eat, or eat things out of the order we would normally eat them. I encourage you to try it sometime...it's so much fun! Besides...it's infrequent enough to relieve any "permanent" damage!
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| Date Day in Palmer, July 2015 |
It was an interesting event -- lots of local musical talent, and individual vendors were selling "garden" themed art. For example, one woman had taken old dining room table chairs, gutted the seat area, replaced the seat with garden mesh, and had a mini-garden growing where the seat used to be. Clever re-purposing. I am not that smart, so Ethan and I walked around to see what ideas we could pilfer from others. Fireweed Jelly was all we came up with! See? Fireweed Fever is a real thing! They even make medicine for it. It's called Fireweed Jelly!
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| Ahtna and Remi |
The weather was pretty that day for a little bit, but for the past week we've been dealing with rainy, muddy conditions. It's been difficult to get out and hike any, but we have taken a couple of trips to the dog park at Lake Lucille. Ahtna met a new friend there, and we think there should be a movie about a Labrador named Ahtna and her friend, Remi, the Great Dane. Remi is an 8-year-old male Dane, and pretty much an old man; but he was patient with her and that is helping her socialization with other dogs. We went back Tuesday night, but Remi wasn't there. There were four other dogs there, and they all played well together. Ahtna was still the smallest, but that was good for her. She is learning her place in our family and learning her boundaries with other dogs.
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| Ahtna, April 2015 |
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| Ahtna, July 2015 |
I'm not into all of the social media daily events; however, I do know that Thursday's are typically a throwback. So I am posting a throwback pic in honor of Ethan's acquisition of Ahtna. It's hard to believe we've had her less than two months. Time marches on...
"Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
James 4:14.
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