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Guide to picking berries (10-12-2005)

Abundant rain in July makes for full buckets in August and September

By Craig Medred and Shawn Lyons / Anchorage Daily News

All over the Chugach and Kenai mountains, hikers, climbers, hunters and, yes, even berry pickers have been reporting all that moisture bore fruit.

	Many Alaskans head to the hills in late summer to harvest berries. Lynette Turner from Fairbanks picks bear berries, also known as black berries, on the slopes of Alpenglow Ski Area near Anchorage. Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News

Chugach State Park ranger Jerry Lewanski calls alpine blueberry crops in the park ''very, very, very good.''

A warm, sunny June and then lots of rain in July make ideal conditions for berries, says Verna Pratt, author of a variety of books on Alaska plants including ''Alaska's Wild Berries and Berry-like Fruit.''

''The first thing is they have to have very good sunny days during the blooming period,'' she said. ''That's in late May to June.''

Good weather maximizes the odds for pollination during the bloom.

''Three to six weeks after that, they need good rain,'' Pratt said.

The rain makes it easier for the plants to feed themselves, leaving them with plenty of extra energy to pump into the production of plump, ripe fruit.

The combination benefited not only blueberries, but lowbush cranberries, crowberries and other berries too.

Pickers can also venture north to search along the Glenn, Richardson, Parks and Denali highways.

Alaska blueberries come in three varieties:

• Bog, or alpine;