Harvesting Local

Campfire on the beach

Fall is in the air and here on Kodiak we are trying to fill our freezers before winter sets in.  Deer, goat, salmon, elk, potatoes, carrots, berries, mushrooms are all available and ripe for the picking.  It is the time of plenty before Alaska shuts down for winter.

Recently I read an article about how eating meat equates with a higher 'carbon footprint' than eating vegetables and grains.  And I bet this is true if the meat you eat is farm raised and brought to a city by truck and airplane.  But here on Kodiak local protein is abundant while vegetables and grains tend to be brought in from outside by plane and barge.

In my opinion it was a silly article because it was trying to generalize for everyone in the world when in reality everyone's particular circumstances are different.  How about trying to gather whatever you can locally regardless of whether it is a plant or animal?

I certainly know that eating locally harvested deer meat is better for the planet than eating tofu bought at a store and made from soy beans genetically modified by Monsanto ('A sustainable agricultural company' according to their website).  Patrick

Silver salmon for canning

Stuey and Lars casting for salmon

Canning the days catch - 3 1/2 fish fit into one load and we ate the rest of the fourth fish for dinner

Our canning set up - pressure cooker and crab cooker burner

Salmon leftovers from the canner on the fire for dinner

Hedgehog mushrooms collected near camp by Ray

Ray cooks up the hedgehog mushrooms

Our carrots won first place at the local Kodiak State Fair!

Collecting raspberries in Old Afognak Village

Ray and the deer he harvested

A packload of tasty mountain goat meat - But watch out Brooks those horns and hide will not be good eating