Update from Dwight and Lauren Bradley

  Lauren and I moved out of Alaska in mid September and drove two cars and three pets to Randolph, New Hampshire. We bought an old farm on 20 acres here; I worked at this farm in the 1970s, before becoming a geologist. The farmhouse is in great shape. There are three attached barns Two of…

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Featured Fruit — Blueberries

Blueberry –Vaccinium spp.   Related to azaleas and rhododendrons, blueberries need a highly organic, cool, moist, well drained soil with a pH between 4.5 and 5.5.  Tiny, urn shaped white or pink flowers decorate the plant in spring, followed by green berries that turn blue when ripe.  Roots grow very near the soil surface, so…

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Did You Know?

  Several of our members were featured in an article in the Frontiersman that later appeared in the Anchorage Daily News? See the article at: http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2005/09/13/news/news2.txt Debbie Hinchey found an informative web site:  www.treesofantiquity.com.   They are in California and sell organic fruit and/or trees. Dan Elliott got the Grand Champion prize for the outdoor…

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Featured Fruit — Wild Alaskan Blueberry

Wild Alaskan Blueberry Vaccinium ovalifolium, V. alaskensis, V. uliginosum   Our wild blueberries here in Alaska tend to be much more flavorful than the commercial blueberries bought at the grocery store.  They grow in such abundance that many find no need to attempt the very specific conditions required for growing blueberry cultivars in their back…

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HIGH-BUSH AND LOW-BUSH BLUEBERRIES IN ALASKA

    After seven years in Alaska, I’ve yet to eat a native blueberry that compares with either the common lowbush blueberry of Maine (Vaccinium augustifolium), or cultivars of the highbush blueberry. I am therefore interested in hearing from any club members about their experiences with blueberry growing in Alaska.   Although most of the…

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NOTES FROM RECENT MEETINGS 1994

    Our January Meeting featured Susan Adams, who showed a video on her efforts to promote a wild blueberry industry near Aniak in southwestern Alaska. The project was funded by the Alaska Science and Technology Foundation. Susan brought in a blueberry specialist from the University of Maine, David Yarborough, as a consultant. Yarborough has…

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MARKETS FOR WILD BLUEBERRIES

Many creatures, large and small, feast at the vast dinner table of Alaskan wild berries. Our indigenous Alaska blueberries are naturally delicious, nutritious, aromatic, low in calories, tangy, luscious to the taste buds, and can be enjoyed in any form from morning to night.   The Alaska Division of Agriculture provided funding to the Agricultural…

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