Elderberries!

#Elderberries 

Whenever I tell folks I am off to pick some berries, the berry that pops into their mind is the huckleberry. The huckleberry is renowned in the West for its sweet deliciousness. However there is another purple berry in the Idaho forests that gets little attention, the elderberry. The elderberry is in my opinion an often overlooked and underappreciated fruit. It should not be viewed as the huckleberry’s poor cousin but rather celebrated for all that it is. The elderberry has a lot to offer.

 The Elderberry is a common to the Western United states, but it is a little known and under-utilized bush.  It grows in moist but not swampy areas of the forest and valleys near creeks, riverbanks, and roads.

The elderberry is a small bush six to twenty feet in height.  It lacks a central trunk.  Rather, several limbs octopus skyward in search of sunlight, then arch gracefully at the ends, resulting in an umbrella shaped bush.  The larger limbs are brittle and a grayish/brown color.  The centers of the branches and limbs are pith filled—pith is the soft tissue in the center of twigs and branches that is responsible for moving and storing nutrients throughout the plant. In new growth the pith will be white or creamy.In older growth the pith turns gray or brown or may disintegrate leaving the wood hollow. This easily hollowed wood is how the plant earned its genus name of Sambucus, from the Greek word sambuke, a wind instrument made from the wood of the alder.

These brittle, grayish branches support the grass-green, finely saw-toothed, elongated and inverted tear drop leaves. These long slender leaves are pinnately compound leaves—the leaves are arranged like a feather with the twig being the spine and the leaves sprouting evenly on either side. The lance-shaped leaflets are also pinnate; a central spine with evenly spaced veins. The lush kelly-green leaves of the blue elderberry are easily visible from great distances set against the faded yellow grasses and hillsides of Idaho in fall. 

The Elderberry is a show stopper in spring sporting creamy-white flower clusters the size of grape bunches.  By fall the blossoms have grown into heavy, clumps of deep blue berries covered in a thin white film.  This deep blue covered with a white film gives the blue elderberry its species name, cerulean, from the Latin caeruleus meaning “sky blue.”

Elderberries are classified as a drupe--a fruit consisting of a thin skin, a succulent meaty layer and a stone or woody seed in the center.  The meat is sweet and reminiscent of a blueberry but meager, and the seed is rather large for a berry the size of a pencil eraser. But, the enormous elderberry bunches, that can often weigh nearly a half a pound each, makes gathering the fruit rather easy.  One large tree can easily yield ten pounds of berries.

Historically, Native Americans have used the elderberry in making purple and green dyes, as a medicine to treat colds, sore throats, fevers, sprains, bruises, arthritis and toothaches, and the hollowed wood was fashioned into flutes.  However, there is now scientific evidence that this fruit boosts the immune system—it is being used experimentally to treat AIDS and cancer patients—bioflavonoids and certain proteins in the fruit destroy a viruses ability to 
infect cells—elderberries were used to treat a flu epidemic in Panama in 1955. However, modern 
foragers most often use the elderberry for jelly, syrups and juice. Sugared and cooked elderberries 
taste like a cross between a Concord grape and blueberries.

The simplified name of the elderberry—sky-blue wind instrument tree—has a certain poetic ring to it.  There is a beauty in that name. However, if a name were given that properly reflected this magnificent tree it would need to be much longer—Ancient, sky blue, dye maker, food provider, dentist, doctor,flutemaker—and not nearly as aesthetically pleasing.      

  Elderberry Jelly Recipe and Syrup

3 cups prepared juice (or 3 lb. fully ripe elderberries)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 box SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin
1/2 tsp. butter or margarine
4-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
1/2 cup of honey



Prepare your jars or other storage container—I often make freezer jelly rather than traditional canning methods but the recipe stays the same.

Carefully remove all the stems from the berries. Rinse the berries well. Pour berries into a large sauce pan and crush thoroughly; a potato masher works wonderfully though I run my berries through a juicer which separates the seeds and skins out. Cook over medium heat until the berry juices start to flow. Once your berries are thoroughly crushed and juicy, drain the mixture through a few layers of cheesecloth draped over a strainer or colander with a pan underneath to catch the juice. Let it drain for a few minutes. Squeeze as much juice as you can from the cheesecloth. This should leave you with between three and five cups of juice. Return the juice to the saucepot and stove. Add in lemon juice, sugar, honey. Bring to a full rolling boil. Stir constantly for about five minutes. I know my syrup is done when it clings to my stirring spoon. Measure out the hot mixture and remove enough of the juice mix to leave just three cups in the saucepan. This extra, the juice you remove from the saucepan, is your syrup. Return the mixture to the stove and bring to a rolling boil. Add pectin and stir for a full minute. Pour this into your prepared storage containers.

The syrup will last in the fridge for about 3 weeks. The jelly, if frozen, will last up to a year. Once refrigerated it should be used within a month.

Possible Jelly/Syrup Alterations

Because elderberries are so prolific and easy to gather, I’ve experimented. An equal mix of blackberries and elderberries makes a delightful jelly. If for some reason you run short of berries or juice, grape juice works well to fill the gap, though apple juice will also do in a pinch.          

Red and Purple; August in Southern Idaho
 #Soda Fire, #Kokanee, # Elderberry

The glowing red and orange of the Soda Fire reflecting off the surface of sleepy, gentle Lake Lowell made my stomach turn and bile rise. The rolling hills surrounding the lake obstructed my view. Needing to see more, I Instructed my husband to get me closer and we drove on. As the entire fire came into view I gasped and found myself shivering uncontrollably.  The heat coming off the flames could not warm me. The thick, choking smoke added to my tears. Sitting in the cab of our truck, in relative safety, sobbing in horror, I watched the enormous red millipede march over the landscape, devouring the rangeland. Small fire tornadoes sprang to life greedily gobbling up sagebrush and Russian Olive trees. The fire’s roaring, moaning, hissing, popping and sighing all rolled into one wicked, deafening voice. So many beloved places—Givens Hot Springs, the Rats Nest and Hard Trigger areas, Silver City, Reynolds and Wilson Creek drainages—all lay in the path of this voracious beast.

Stoddard Mansion, Silver City

  

Silver City Church

August in southern Idaho is red and purple.  Red fills the minds of Idahoans with dread; August is fire season.  Fire, for a Westerner, is synonymous with danger and destruction. Just the word conjures up images of fire tornadoes and blackened soil. Fire is a reality of Western life. It comes and goes every season.  Fire is both death and birth; immediately following a fire the land looks dead but soon the rain brings new shoots of green and the landscape is reborn.

Over the years, I've watched fire greedily devour many places I love the Owyhees, Sun Valley and Ketchum, Pine and Featherville, Crouch and Garden Valley, McCall and Riggins. The list is too long to continue.  Most years, all I can do is watch the television screen in dismay as the fires are usually far from my home in the Treasure Valley.

This fire season struck me much harder than those before. When the Soda Fire started near the Idaho/Oregon border I wasn't too concerned. Small range fires are fairly common and Owyhee County is vast. However, when the fire ballooned from 10,000 acres to 200,000 acres in a day in a part of Idaho that is my backyard—my children were figuratively baptized in the waters of the Snake River; my husband and I hunt the Owyhees every year for deer; my husband’s family ranched the area since the 1880s; I’ve spent more than a decade researching an historical Owyhee county figure; blurry images of the Owyhees are some of my earliest childhood memories−my view of fire changed drastically.

When fire threatens a place you call home it becomes monstrous. Like the notoriously maligned wolf, fire is suddenly imbued with evil intent and murderous ways. This wicked, viscous thing was destroying my home, my backyard, my Owyhees.   Every hair on my body stood on end.  Grabbing my daughter, husband and a dear friend and we headed out to confront the beast and witness the devastation.

Every hour and passing day brought horrific updates—240,000 acres, 260,000 acres and evacuations, 7 miles from Silver City, Soda Fire the largest fire in the lower 48. The fire consumed me too. I could not tear myself away from the screen. I could not sleep. I had no appetite.  When I closed my eyes at night that glowing red millipede chased me.

Soda Fire from Pump Road, 2015

As of this week the Soda Fire is out. So much of the landscape I love is charred. There were no human fatalities. Several ranches lost cattle. Thirty wild horses trapped behind barbed wire died and others had to be euthanized.  Those losses are distressing but it will take years for the high desert to recover, years. The ranchers and sage grouse, antelope, mule deer and other wildlife that depend on the rangeland will suffer right along with the landscape until it is healed.

As the fire wound down, the sky filled with gray smoke, and I found myself exhausted.  My constant worry had taken a physical toll and my thoughts turned to another kind of red−spawning Kokanee.  Kokanee run every August.  I hoped at Anderson Ranch Reservoir, where the desert kisses the mountains, the sky would be clearer and I could finally leave the fire behind. 

We arrived late on a Friday night and set up our camp at Fall Creek Resort—a lovely backcountry destination with a small motel, a restaurant and bar, a marina and a campground on the banks of Anderson Ranch Reservoir.  We woke in the morning, for the first time in two weeks, to a sun that did not look like a slice of pink grapefruit and a brilliantly blue sky. We ate quickly and then headed for the creek. My daughter ran full tilt, her sun-tanned arms and legs pumping in unison. Below the black volcanic rock the creek runs through, in the cool transparent, water dozens of fire-red Kokanee struggled against the current. My daughter squealed in delight. The fish rolled and boiled and occasionally leaped, flashing red above the blue. Fascinated by the bright color, she rock-hopped to the center of the creek and attempted to touch the fish, her arm submerged up to her shoulder in the cold water. My husband threw fishing line after line trying to entice a bite.  I chose a nearby rock and settled in to watch their fun and take in my surroundings.

Spawning Kokanee

As the day wore on the smoke slowly rolled back in. Soon, the sky was once again flannel gray. The horizon was limited to only those mountains surrounding the reservoir that were mostly green having escaped the fire the summer before.  We moved lazily upstream, fishing along the way.

 In a mass of lush green plants crowding the creek, I found the spiny, glossy leaves and purple berries of the Tall Oregon grape. The plant grew at the base of a burned out Ponderosa pine, was no more than four inches tall, and had produced six grapes.  I let the little grapes be so that it might seed for next year.  The creek, I discovered, was also thick with elderberry bushes so heavy with clusters of purple, juicy berries that their branches hung all the way to the ground.  I snapped off clusters and deposited them in a grocery sack and wondered what a mix of elderberries and huckleberries would taste like in a batch of jelly. I'd gathered my huckleberries earlier in the month and stored them in the freezer.  The thought of the two flavors mingling together excited me and I couldn't wait to get home and give it a try.

Elderberry

Tall Oregon Grape

Fall Creek, 2015

 Rounding a bend in the creek, we came upon a favored fishing hole, a small waterfall tumbling into a large blue pool. Red Kokanee assembled at the base of the falls, ready to leap into the white waters and continue their efforts to reach the spawning grounds.  It had been years since we'd visited the spot and I marveled at the changes those years brought. My husband continued his fishing. My daughter caught a toad and spent the afternoon deep in conversation with the amphibian.  I sat next to the rushing water, listening to its prattle, while snapping photos.

                          

 We spent two days fishing Anderson Ranch and the nearby creeks. It was a lovely respite, Anderson Ranch and Fall Creek always are. We came home renewed, with bags full of elderberries and purple fingertips. 

 August is a strange month in Idaho. The fires are devastating but the Kokanee and the berries are life affirming—watching a Kokanee struggle upstream to spawn and start new life is amazing and wild berries taste like summer on the tongue.  August marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall—hot and cool, death and birth−red and purple represent the month well. 

Fall Creek, 2006

For more information about Fall Creek Resort please visit http://fallcreekresortandmarina.com/

Warm Lake and The Gluch's

Sometimes life presents us with some funny coincidences.  I recently wrote an article featuring Warm Lake.  I've been visiting the area for years for fishing, scenery, and hot springs.  However, for my husband’s family Warm Lake and North Shore Lodge has been a favored family vacation spot for nearly thirty years.  Many, many family memories are centered around time spent on the beautiful high-mountain lake. 

               

My husband and his brothers tell stories of the bears who used to be so plentiful in the area that they were frequent night time visitors, poking their black heads into the circles of light from the cabin's front porch lights. My husband and I announced our engagement to his family while on a trip to the lake. Our daughter has spent most of her Fourth of July’s at the little lake blissfully unaware of the crowds or fireworks she was missing back home in the Treasure Valley. 

Warm Lake is a special and magical place.  It is a place that is hard to leave; a small slice of heaven in the Idaho backcountry. So I wrote about it and posted it to my blog, with the hopes of sharing that special, out-of-the-way location with others.

The following morning, to my delight, the Idaho Statesman printed their own article about Warm Lake, which featured a photo of my family who were visiting the week before.  It matters little to me which article drives a visitor to the lake and lodge, what is important is that they go and get a taste of what makes Idaho so special.  It is in this spirit that I  and the Statesman both share these destination articles, for these special far-flung places depend on the next generation of visitors to keep them alive and well. I've provided a link below to share with you the Statesman article and photo.

This desire to share these heavenly places has been a driving force in my life for the last four years as I've worked to complete my book, "Under My Idaho Sky" which is scheduled for publication this fall with Mill Park Publishing. The book features numerous backcountry Idaho locals and contains maps and photos of those areas.  In my home and life we use the phrase "Sharing is caring." And there is little I care about more than my magnificent home. My book is a reflection of that caring. If you are interested in reading about more of these backcountry destinations please continue to visit my blog for further information on the upcoming release date. 

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/07/01/3878143/warm-lake-is-a-great-backcountry.html

I Lie to My Friends

# I Lie to My Friends

I lie to my friends, a lot.  Not about anything of importance but…I live in Idaho and in Idaho all the best things are found at the end of miles and miles of winding road.  What does this have to do with lying to my friends? Plenty.

I have always had the wandering bug. My idea of a great afternoon is to explore a backcountry road I’ve never been on before.  Sometimes, just for giggles I’ll pick up an Idaho map, close my eyes, and point.  Wherever my finger lands is where we head for the day or weekend.  I’ve discovered many great destinations that way, and that is where my problems begin.

As much as I love the Idaho backcountry, I love sharing it with friends and family more.  But to share it I am often forced to lie.  I recall, years ago, telling a good friend about Warm Lake.  I painted a picture of the beautiful crystal-clear little lake, sitting peacefully below the rugged mountain peaks. 

She looked excited and then asked, “But how far is it?”

The look on her face told me I needed to answer carefully.  I smiled brightly, “Only about one hundred miles!”

My friend readily agreed to the trip based on the information I’d given her.  What I failed to tell her is that those actual one hundred-nineteen miles from Nampa would take three hours to drive−a lie by omission.

Highway 55 twists and bends following the Payette River for most of the journey.  The canyons are quiet, shaded and green.  The river roars in places with whitewater and in others it slips by silently as placid as pond water.  I am happy to watch all the sumptuousness out the window; the average speed of 35 mph doesn’t bother me at bit.
 

That weekend was one of the best trips of my friend’s life.  She loved the little lodge, the mountain peaks, the clear cold water, the fishing and nearby hot springs.  She forgave me pretty quick for my little white lie. And, since then my lying has become a habit.

I’ll never understand what folks have against bumping along a dirt road or a twisted paved road to find out what is at the end.  For me, it is a supreme pleasure; the journey is what matters.  I now lie to my friends by omission regularly and without regret. It is, in my opinion, in their best interest. They always forgive me once we are there. The Idaho backcountry never fails to impress.

Driving Directions

Beginning on Highway 55 it is nearly straight shot to Warm Lake.  The only turns involved are a right turn after the second bridge in Cascade−Warm Lake Rd−and another right onto N. Shoreline Dr.   For more information about North Shore Lodge and its amenities find them on Facebook or contact them via internet http://www.northshorelodgeidaho.com/.

   Morels and Poverty

My husband leaned over to peer under the skirt of a fir tree.  “Are you sure they’re here?” he asked.

“Positive,” I replied.  “Just keep looking.  The conditions are perfect for morels—dark forest, moist soil, fir trees, elevation.  They’re here.”

Another minute or two passed and I was beginning to wonder if I was wrong. Then I spotted it, a tiny one inch tall morel peeking out from under a pile of pine needles.  “Found one!  I TOLD you.”

Photo by Michelle Gluch

My husband grumbled something unintelligible, and my eight year-old daughter excited by our first find skipped off in search of her own tiny delicacy. 

The dark deep woods were quiet and I was alone with my thoughts, which weren’t all that happy.  

My mother’s voice echoed in my head, “I’ll never understand you Idahoans.  You’ll spend your last 20 dollars on gas to go fishing or camping when you should be putting it in the bank.”

Even though I hadn’t spoken to my mother for years, her power to make me feel guilty was as strong as ever.  Mom escaped poverty after she left my father.  It wasn’t luck, she worked hard at building a life for herself and her new husband but she seemed to completely forget what a life of poverty was like.

“You have no business having a hobby, when you can’t afford to feed yourself or your family,” she said. 

I didn’t have the strength to argue with her then.  If I had the conversation to do over this is what I’d tell her.  Every day, I wake up as tired as the day before no matter how long I sleep. My exhaustion is a result of depression which is a result of never ending stress. I am depressed  and stressed because I know that there will be problems that I simply do not have the resources to address—a car repair, a bad tooth that needs fixing, a house repair, an extra expense for school.  Inevitably there will be something.  There always is. 

I could be the most responsible financial wizard in the world, but when you don’t make enough money to survive—even after 20 years of working with children 14 hours per day—there is nothing left to put in the bank.  Period. Nothing.  Trust me, I’ve tried.  Something always pops up to steal that fifty or hundred bucks I manage to squirrel away.   Dreams and obligations are always just out of my reach. I gave up trying to save long ago.  It isn’t worth the pain of getting close only to have my hopes dashed again.

I found another morel—my daughter calls them brain mushrooms—pushing its way up out of the loamy soil next to a decaying tree stump.  I picked it, careful to leave the root intact, hoping that it would fruit again the next year.  But for just a minute I felt guilty for doing so.  After all, that little mushroom worked hard to reach the fresh air and sun. I doubted that I would ever get as far as that fungi did. Poverty can be a dark place where the sun never shines.

I dropped that mushroom in my bag.  It is just one mushroom but the forest is generous. The fungi are there waiting to be found if I work for them, just like the fresh Idaho salmon in the nearby Little Salmon River. Foraging makes me happy, even if only for a short time. It isn’t always necessarily cost effective; sometimes I return home empty handed or with very little. However, when successful that wild, foraged food lessens the stress on my already ridiculously tight food stamp budget. I could never purchase fresh fish on that budget, let alone a delicacy like morels.  For me, those mushrooms and salmon represent much more than wasted gas money, my mother’s judgement, or anyone else’s either.

They represent a few minutes or hours where I feel like I have a little control in my otherwise chaotic existence.  My foraging efforts make a tiny bit of difference in the way things are for my family; at least we will enjoy a delicious meal now and then.  Foraging is real, tangible and right now. And, poor or not, even I deserve to taste a little bite of joy once in a while. 

The Child Support Issue

The Child Support Issue #FilltheStateHouse

When the legislative session closed without addressing Medicaid expansion, I was heartbroken. Thousands of Idaho’s working poor would again face the reality of life without access to medical care.  But when I read about Idaho’s refusal sign the child support treaty bill into law, I was furious.  It seems that Idaho enjoys kicking its working poor while they are down.

                More than 150,000 Idaho families utilize the Idaho Child Support system.  The majority of those are single working mothers—a part of the same demographic that is affected by lack of Medicaid expansion—who may now lose child support that is vital to their survival.

If that scenario isn't bad enough, it gets worse.  Idaho’s refusal to sign has further consequences, “Federal officials told the state Health and Welfare Department on Monday that Idaho’s child support bureau will lose $16 million in funding within 60 days without reversal… Without a child support program in place, the state also stands to lose $30 million in temporary assistance to needy families, which covers such programs as Head Start as well as child care assistance for low income families.”

Thousands of Idaho children who utilize Head Start will have nowhere to go and working parents who depend on ICCP will have no means with which to pay for daycare.  It is thought that Idaho’s refusal will touch the lives of 400,000 Idahoans—those with active child support cases, those who have pending cases, Head Start attendees and workers, ICCP clients and the daycares  and providers who accept that subsidy, those who are employed by the Idaho Child Support offices. 

I am one of those 400,000 directly affected. If this comes to pass, I will lose my childcare business of 20 years--my family’s sole source of support.  All of my daycare clients participate in the ICCP program. The five families I provide care for will not be able to continue to work and children I have helped to raise since they were tiny will be gone from my life. The only silver lining in this cloud is that once we are destitute my husband and I will qualify for Medicaid.

The New York Times recently ran an article about the whole mess saying, “A major factor seems to be Idaho’s ornery streak, the part of the state’s identity that does not like the federal government — or, worse still, foreign governments — telling it what to do.”  The article backed up this idea by quoting Ryan Kerby, a Republican, first term representative as saying, ““You need to sign it, and if you don't we're going to beat the crud out of you,” Mr. Kerby said, paraphrasing the pressure he felt (from the federal government). “They were incredibly rude.”

I could not then nor can I now fathom how a dislike of federal control could be a deciding factor on an issue that touches so many Idahoans.  The Idaho legislature is acting on principle but those principles have devastating effects on real lives. 

Idaho’s law making body is behaving like a spoiled child balking under parental control.  It is ridiculous behavior with horrendous consequences and further proof that our governing body does not make decisions based upon what is best for its constituents, but rather on how ornery it feels on any given day.  The working poor cannot afford Idaho’s petulance.  

Blue Tushies and Chinook salmon

For most of the country Memorial Day is the signal of the beginning of the summer.  This does not always hold true in Idaho. I've endured Memorial Days that were so hot the salmon I pulled from the water were poached, while the other weekends were so cold and wet my butt froze and fell off.  I am here to tell you a Popsicle butt is not a good thing.  Being an Idahoan isn't easy sometimes, especially when it comes to the weather.

 Folks like to whine and moan and make jokes about Idaho’s inconstant weather.  I'm sure you've heard a few-- “If you don't like the Idaho weather wait five minutes,” or my personal favorite, “Idaho weather doesn't suck, Wyoming’s blows.” 

Personally, being rather Chihuahua-like in size and stature, I prefer warmth and sunshine but for my bear of a husband weather is a non-issue.  This has caused more than one ridiculous fight in our marriage.  I crave a hot spring when sun and warmth are in short supply, while he would be happy anywhere fishing even when the Idaho sky is spitting in his eye.

After years and years and years of marriage we've learned to compromise. I've promised to endure all types of May weather and combat fishing on the Salmon River and in return he has promised to get  my blue butt to a hot spring on the way home, where I can warm my tushie until it returns to a healthy, normal pink. 

In May, the closest salmon fishing to my home is in Riggins which means that there are ample butt poaching opportunities on the journey home via Highways 55 or 95. Below, I've created two lists of hot springs to help keep your rear-end and marriage warm and happy.  Here’s hoping your Memorial Day weekend is full of fish, good times, and pink tushies.

Highway 95 Hot Springs

Zim’s Hot Springs—just outside of New Meadows—is a nice outdoor, commercial pool. http://www.zimshotsprings.com/

Mundo Hot Springs—just outside of Cambridge—is a gorgeous, commercial pool. http://idaho-rv.blogspot.com/

Highway 55 Hot Springs

Goldfork Hot Spring—just outside of Donnely—is a mountain gem with several pools ranging in temperature from hot to lukewarm.  http://goldforkhotsprings.com/

Terrace Lakes Resort—just off Highway 55 in the tiny community of Crouch—has it all including a golf course, a lodge, and a geothermal pool open year round.  http://www.terracelakes.com/-hot-springs-pool

Roystone Hot Spring—located on Highway 52 just a short ten miles from Horseshoe Bend—Roystone is one of my all-time favorites.  The pool is covered to protect you from inclement weather but still an outdoor pool, the family who owns the place is amazing, and the price is right!  http://www.roystonehotsprings.com/

My book Under My Idaho Sky, which contains more stories and maps of Idaho, is due to be published and available this July!  Stayed tuned for more information!