Catching & Canning Reds

Last week one day after work I went out with Mike and Joe and set a net in front of the Buskin.  Right away we caught some salmon, but then lots of other people set their nets all around us (we got 'corked') and the fishing slowed.  We used the whaler to set the net and then waited and watched the net from Mike's boat with a cabin. Dawson joined us and we waited and waited.  But waiting on Mike's boat with good company was sort of like going to a cocktail party.  And we caught enough fish to justify the trip from a 'feeding the family' standpoint.  We ended up with 9 fish but 7 of them were caught in the fist 1/2 hour.

Back home we canned up the red salmon and the 6 fish we canned was almost the perfect amount.  I just about filled 2 canners with 1/2 pint jars.  Mike had lightly smoked 3 of the fish.  So one canner was lightly smoked while the other was plain.  We ended up with 40 jars or 20 pounds of finished product.

Our family LOVES canned salmon.  We used to freeze a lot of salmon but find we prefer canned salmon.  These days we either eat our salmon fresh or can it.

I think canned salmon gets a bit of a bad reputation because generally the stuff you buy or that many people make is terrible.  Who wants the skin and bones in with their salmon?  Yuck! it looks and tastes like catfood.  Or worse yet there are the people who can poor quality fish.  They figure the quality does not matter if it is getting canned and will can fish that has been in the freezer for 1/2 a year, or fish that was not properly bled out or iced.

Mike and I have done some experiments and have noticed that fish that has already been frozen cans up 'dry' while fish that was not bled or iced well tastes and smells 'fishy' in the can.  The skin and bones is a more controversial subject.  There are many locals who swear by the skin and bones - makes it taste better and far healthier they say.  Mike and I have done side-by-side comparisons of fish canned with skin and without and also with and without the bones.  The bones do not make any difference flavor wise - but do make a difference in texture.

But the big difference is between salmon canned with the skin on versus without.  The skin definitely imparts a strong fishy taste and smell.  However, we found that if you scaled and slimed the salmon first and then canned it that there was no bad smell or taste.  So if you want to leave the skin on - then scale and slime it first.

Mike and I generally can our fish without the skin or bones.  And our families LOVE it.

Also I am convinced that if commercial salmon was all canned without the skin and bones it would be far, far more popular than canned tuna fish.  But that is a story for another blog post.

Patrick

Garden Doings

Peas, beats and carrots

We've been eating out of our garden for about 2 weeks now.  The radishes are almost done, we're swamped with salad greens, and just starting to eat kale.  That's about 2 weeks ahead of last year, and way ahead of where we were in 2011 (click here).  Last year our garden did not look about the same until two weeks later (click here).  I'd say we are 2 or 3 weeks ahead of normal - except for the potatoes which seem to keep to the exact same schedule every year.

This year I kept things simple with lots of carrots, lettuce, beats and peas in the raised beds.  I added cilantro in with the salad greens and that seems to have been a good idea.  The main garden and raised beds next door are full of potatoes while the planters around the house have kale.  I planted radishes beside the potatoes and kale knowing that they would be all gone by the end of June and that the other plants could fill in the vacated space.

Another new trick that I discovered this year was to let the beach peat for the potatoes sprout weeds.  The beach peat is full of lamb's quarter seeds, and are a 'weed' that I think tastes better than spinach!  In years past I pondered how I could get lambs quarter into my garden (click here), and now I finally figured it out.  Lambs quarter is just like spinach except it does not bolt or make your mouth feel raw with oxialic acid.

On another seasonal note - I noticed that the first salmonberries are almost ripe.  I can't remember ever eating salmonberries prior to July, and this year it looks like we'll beat the beginning of summer.  I found the almost ripe berries with the kids on Sunday.  Nora called dibs on the berry pictured.  Patrick

Beat, lettuce (with cilantro mixed in) and carrots

Potato beds with lambs quarter 'weeds' and radishes at one side

Salmonberry on Sunday

Same berry yesterday - it ought to be ready to eat by this afternoon.  Nora has called dibs on the first berry of the season.

Afognak Photos and Activities

Stuey and Nora play 'city' on the beach while Zoya reads - feathers are the game's money while shells and rocks  are commodities

One final Afognak vacation post to include all the photos that did not fit into the other posts.  Rather than write a whole lot I'll let the pictures and captions speak for themselves.  Patrick

Going for a walk on the beach at low tide

Katelyn teaches Nora and Stuey how to skip rocks

Stuey shows good rock skipping form

Family photo on the beach

Aerial view of Lipsett Point

Nora toasts a marshmallow for a s'more

Nora works on her part of the city while Zoya naps

Afognak stream water is the best tasting water around

Time to go home

Navigating Ocean Currents

Would this be a family outing time which I simply needed to endure, survive? 

As my paddle accidentally bumped Stuey's paddle, he would turn around in disgust and  cry out "Moooommm!!!'  then return to aggressive paddling. To make matters worse, Patrick and Nora were far ahead of us and Patrick  was going as slow as he could with Nora.  This made Stuey more disappointed with me- as our fastest kayaking was still slower than Patrick's slowest Kayaking. Sigh. I felt like a part of me was on the water to check that box '-tried kayaking as a family'.

As we weaved along the coastline and passed graveyard point, I realized I was actually enjoying myself. I found the 'deep' water only mildly scary and the security of Patrick nearby helped ease my mild anxiety of being in the ocean in such a small vessel. Stuey and I found our rhythm of paddling together and we seemed to get more patient with each other. When he put his paddle all the way in the water with nice long pulls through the water, I complimented him and he'd reply with the sweetest little, "Thank you." 

My goal was to to reach a point of land which was far away from our campsite and I was curious what was around it.  We made it there in a few hours with a few beach stops and snack breaks. As we turned the corner, the ocean current  was quite strong-pulling us farther from our origin. Patrick encouraged us to turn around, as the tide and winds would make it a hard return unless we waited until later. 

I'm already scheming future kayak trips in Afognak. Possible overnights, portages when the kids are older. And nearby cabins and people we can visit. Kayaking in Afognak has opened up a whole new world of possibilities of adventures.

And I love the inflatable kayak design. I'm sold.  They are stable, fast, and can withstand a good thrashing around on rocks, etc from kids. And I can bend my legs up to give them a little stretch. I realized that the thing I've never enjoyed about standard kayaks is how your legs are straight and its hard to get position changes AND you're worried about scratching the kayak on rocks. All elements which are a non-issue in the inflatables.

Many more cliffs and beaches to be explored and ocean currents to navigate together as a family!

Zoya

Stuey and Nora also kayaked on their own - there was on onshore breeze that kept them  on the beach.  Periodically we had to push them off the beach.

We sat and watched them kayak - hours of entertainment

They improved dramatically and we closely monitored a trip around the point -  John S is just off shore in a skiff and we walked along the beach

Salmon on the Beach

One of my favorite things about camping on Afognak is eating freshly caught salmon cooked over a campfire on the beach.  In August the silver salmon and pinks are running and they are easy to catch from shore with a rod and reel.  But in June the only salmon running on Afognak are red salmon, and they don't bite lures.  About the only way to catch them is with a net.

Unfortunately our family does not own a net. However, our camping spot is situated at one of the best subsistence set net spots in Afognak Bay, and so plenty of people come to fish the point.  If they are catching enough fish they can often be convinced to share one with us.

Our friend John S came over and fished the point and the kids were fascinated with the whole process.  I must admit I am tempted to get a net of my own, but my worry is that with no coolers full of ice I'd catch too many fish to can or eat all at once.  What would happen if the net got slammed and I caught 20 salmon all at once?  Maybe we'll try and find a really short net that we can deploy and tend by kayak.  I already have my subsistence permit and canning equipment.

In the meantime I am quite content to eat the occasional red salmon caught by someone else.  And later in the summer we'll be catching salmon from shore ourselves  Patrick.

Camp or Cabin?

When we go to Afognak we camp out in tents and use a big old teepee with a woodstove for the camp kitchen and mess hall.  Early on we decided to not build a cabin.

And it seems to work. I can set up our camp in under 2 hours and it comes down in about 1 hour.  We do not have to worry about maintaining a cabin or the cost of building one.  We camp, we leave, and while the place is a bit trampled it is in pretty much in the same condition as when we arrived (this time we did leave a tub). No worrying about squirrels filling a cabin with spruce cones, hunters leaving a mess, or otters denning up under the foundation.  Best of all the kids learn about camping.

Another reason we have not built a cabin is that when I go to other bays and places on Kodiak it always annoys me when I find a cabin.  It sort of destroys the wilderness value of the place and seems sort of selfish - a cabin screams that someone thinks they own the place.  I like to explore the places on Kodiak where there are no cabins.

Still people often ask us why we don't build a cabin.  On remote properties everybody seems to build a cabin.  And I have to admit, to a small extent, Zoya and I have wondered if we should build a cabin.  I think the deciding factor has always been about how much time we would spend at a cabin.  If we spent the entire summer on Afognak every year then I think the maintenance and other costs would be justified.

All of these thoughts came to mind when I went on my archaeological survey of Uyak Bay a couple of weeks ago.  There are a lot of cabins in Uyak Bay. A few of them do get used every summer and fall (and even year round), and they seem totally justified. These individuals and families get to live a totally awesome lifestyle out on the land. I am always a little envious (and in awe) of setnetters, guides and other people who have the wherewithal to make a living out on the landscape.

But what was shocking about Uyak Bay was how many of the cabins NEVER get used.  Many of them were built and used just once, and most of them are slowly decaying into wreaks. A remote piece of Alaska with a cabin on it seems to be a common dream.  But it also seems to be a dream that very few have the commitment to follow through on.

Our teepee and woodstove are looking pretty good!

Patrick

Afognak Soul Food

With only Patrick and the kids on the beach, I scrambled to shed my layers of summer carharts, long sleeve shirt and vest onto a pile on the beach rocks- to finally enjoy the hot tub I'd been dreaming about since last summer. The warmth of the water pleasantly surprised me, as well as how comfortable and deep the tub was.

The various water floaties and organic matter from the pond water circulated their way through the tub but didn't bother me in the slightest. Just an added bonus to the Afognak hot tub experience!

The 14-ish buckets of water came from a small swamp behind the beach filled up our hot tub and something about climbing in after made it feel more "earned". For the first few tubs, Katelyn and I took turns fillin' the tub up-so gratifying to see the water swirl into the cast iron form and see this neglected tub have a second life.

 Making the beach hot tub a reality was a combined efforts of many friends-starting with John S. who found the abandoned tub in a friends yard (see prior blog post). Thank you, John!

Then 4 friends in 2 boats helped haul it over from Anton Larson (John, Robert, Brooks and Jason). Upon arrival they hauled  it up the beach to where we found it on our arrival later that day. I thank my lucky stars that no spines were hurt in that delivery!

All the tub needed was some serious scrubbing with a brush found on the beach and some tub plugs. Patrick recently learned an adage from Jack W…."What ever it is you  need, the ocean will supply you with". Our beaches supplied exactly what we needed to make the final pieces of the dream come true.

The true inspiration in this whole experience is from  our friends the Myrick's fish site in remote Kodiak. Both Katelyn and I have soaked in their beach hot tub at different times in our life under the stars in Uganik bay.  That experience really stuck with me and fed my soul and its great to return to this beach experience. 

Zoya

Getting the beach ready for the tub's new location. 

Arranging the base of support, so crab cooker could fit underneath. 

Teamwork!! (Katelyn, John, Robert, Patrick and myself) Crab cooker heated the tub~took approx 1 hour of heating time. Plywood plank kept us from burning our bottoms!

Rub-a-dub-dub...scrubbin' the tub...with a brush found on the beach!

And the moment we've been waiting for...

Ahhh.....

Afognak hot tub

Today we head out to Afognak for our first trip family trip of the season. The weather is clearing, clouds are parting and the weather forecast is now due to be good for the week. 

Since last year, I've been dreaming of the prospect of having a hot tub on the beach at Afognak. An Alaskan style hot tub is one where you light a camp fire underneath and are able to soak under the stars, alongside the ocean. 

The  first challenge was finding a tub.

I put a request out on Facebook..."Anyone have a clawfoot or cast iron tub to get rid of?" No bites.

Then I looked on-line and got dismayed by shipping prices/hassles, etc...

Months past and out of the blue,  our friend John S. said he found us a tub-abandoned in the woods near a friends house. He asked the landlord if we could have it and they said, "Yes!".

Last night after dinner, John, his brother Robert, Bob and myself went to retrieve the tub. It is a heavy beast. It is being loaded into John's skiff today and it will be brought to the beach....somehow. The part that seems the most challenging to me in getting it out of a deep skiff and onto the beach. John re-assured me that they could tip it out of the boat into the ocean and pull it ashore. Keeping my fingers crossed it all goes smoothly. I"m most appreciative of all these tub efforts!

Now to finish up packing and prep to leave in 5 hours! Packing lots of drawing supplies and books. I'm excited for our little Afognak getaway. 

Zoya

Enjoying first garden-grown greens of the year while planning Afognak Trip 

The abandoned tub~ready for a new beachside home!

And its a BEAST. Cast iron, super heavy.