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What else has been going on around here…
- Twenty-One January 29, 2026
- Nostalgia January 8, 2026
- We Made It! December 22, 2025
- We Make Do, So Can You! November 2, 2025
- Twice in 3 Days October 31, 2025
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Category Archives: Outdoors
We are home for our compulsory break after three days. It’s necessary for feeding and watering our animals. Plus showers, laundry & restocking. Helps with mental fatigue too. It’s a lot of work fishing and setting up camp simultaneously, feeding all these people, & factoring in the disheartening lack of fishing time. We’ve had nets in the water a total of 4.5-5 hours over the past two days and netted 27 salmon. Total. It’s a lot of work for not so many fish.
We got home late last night, it was after 9 pm but I’ve lost track of time to know for sure. Kids tended to the animals, I jumped in the shower. I had two days of Cook Inlet mud to wash off my legs and out of my locs. And that long hot shower helped to soothe some of my tired muscles. And I went straight to bed.
Mental fatigue is always a thing for us at fish camp. We love doing this, look forward to it all year long, but it is a lot of work. Even walking on beach sand all day, every day is tiring. And dealing with other people in close proximity is hard. I mean, we love all of our FC family but even loved ones can get on your nerves at times, amiright?? But it’s all for a purpose. It’s our “working vacation” to fill our pantry with fish.
So taking away that reward, or at least feeling like it’s being taken away from you, makes you question if it’s worth it or not. Plus the reality for us is that there isn’t another opportunity like this to get salmon the rest of the season, it’s a real mind #*@&.
One of my kids were definitely showing that their overwhelmed meters were pegged yesterday so I was glad to be taking our overnight break.
Today we have a plethora of chores and things to load to haul back to the beach for the rest of our adventures. I just keep reminding myself of the purpose: to secure food and enjoy each other’s company. After all, we don’t get this opportunity but once a year, and with Niki here is even more rare.
So it’s off to work and start getting stuff loaded up. I’ve already got a load of laundry going. Made Dean’s lunch and sent him to work. And paid my business bond renewal that expires next week. I think I need more coffee.
I’ve mentioned previously how local foods were vital to a healthy sourdough’s diet so I’ll get right to the subject of this week’s post: Fiddleheads!
For years Thing 1 and I have been meaning to harvest fiddleheads. And each year we somehow miss the short window of opportunity. But not this year!
Scouting through the woods yesterday I noticed most of the ferns were up and thought I’d missed out yet again. But halfway through our hike I found a bottom area full of fiddleheads. So I refreshed my memory on safe harvesting and planned to go out first thing in the morning to provide the mosquitos breakfast & pick some.
All of the ferns I observed are Lady Ferns. Ostrich ferns are supposed to grow in this region too but I didn’t locate any.
I picked enough to try a batch of pickled Fiddleheads. We’ll see if we like them. Then next year we can harvest more. There’s been no harvest pressure on these ferns plus there’s plenty for us to chose from.
I sauteed a couple to try them and I love ’em!! Can’t wait to pickle the rest for a longer lasting treat!
I’m going to be in the lookout for Ostrich ferns too.
Resources:
Click to access Fiddleheads.pdf
Harvesting Wild Fiddlehead Ferns in Alaska
I am a Fiddlehead Forager | INDIE ALASKA
Thing 1 is taking botany this year for her science. She’s been wanting to try out tapping birch trees to harvest their sap for a while now. This past weekend she got her chance.
Our days are longer and warmer but our nights are still plenty cold. Perfect time to tap a birch. I bought some tree taps at the farm store last week and two new 2 gal buckets with lids. Once we got to the cabin she went out, drill and supplies in hand.
She settled on two old trees, one next to the sauna, the other up by the smoker. Taps in place and smaller buckets hung catching the few drips that morning. As the day went on, the sauna tree seemed to be the better producer.
She went out and checked late afternoon and wow! Full bucket in the sauna tree! Holy smokes it works!
Overnight the temps fell and we froze up solid. The “slow drip” tree froze up but the sauna tree had overflowed it’s bucket!
We broke off those sapcicles and ate them. Nature’s “Otter pops”!
All in just over 24 hours she got two gallons of birch sap. Impressive for her first try!
Now begins the process of cooking down the sap for syrup. I’ll let you know how long that takes!
Time to go so she whittled some birch twigs to fit the drill holes to plug the trees. Covered that with duct tape of course. And thanked the trees for their donation to our diet.
Alaska on my mind... 