June 3

Today wasn’t as sunny as we were expecting, but the weather cleared up later on so that was a plus. In the morning I started another batch of chicken feed which consisted of mixing wheat, corn, barely, and peas in a bucket and immersing them in water and finally sealing up the bucket until tomorrow when the water would be drained and the seed covered in water once again.

Chicken feed.

Later I helped transplant some kale and cauliflower sprouts into the greenhouse that will hopefully grow to maturity and create some great food. I then peeled bull kelp which we harvested yesterday with a vegetable peeler. The kelp is very sticky and slimy so peeling the stalk was harder than it sounds. The next task was to chop the bull kelp into small pieces to make into relish later on. By then it was lunchtime so we all took a break before our hike to go find wild edibles.

Bull kelp before it was cleaned up.

Bull kelp after it was peeled and cut.

By far the most fun part of the day was going on a hike with Ginger to go find fiddlehead ferns and spruce tips for eating later on. As we walked along the bluff we saw small creeks and beautiful old spruce trees growing amidst a sea of sphagnum moss. Bentley’s favorite activity was counting the number of bear poop piles. I think he still needs to grasp the idea that we pass the same piles on the way back. Some of the piles were pretty fresh, which is both exiting and terrifying. I wouldn’t mind seeing a bear to take a cool picture, but the bear could also kill me, so pros and cons I suppose.

In addition to the fiddleheads and the spruce tips we collected dandelion heads to make dandelion fritters tomorrow morning. I’ve never had them, but I imagine they must taste pretty good. 

A good chunk of the afternoon was spent cleaning the fiddleheads which consists of rubbing a toothbrush on them until the small, dark leaves come off. In total Jordan and I spent 1.5 hours cleaning them. 

Without a moment’s delay, we then started canning our bull kelp relish, which now consisted of bull kelp, onions, peppers, and garlic. Ginger was kind enough to start making the brine made of vinegar, water, sugar, and spices. Once canning was finished we made dinner and talked a bit in the common area. 

Jars of bull kelp relish.

The last activity of the day was learning how to tie a bolin and clove hitch knot on a piece of line. (what we all rope in Wisconsin is called line up in Alaska). This was fun and it taught Jordan and I some valuable skills that will serve us well back home too.