Nagoonberries

At the Wildflower Garden Club's annual plant sale this year I bought a nagoonberry, mostly because I liked the name.

I brought it home and tried to learn more about it. You can start your own search here, at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_raspberry.

The nagoonberry is local to the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska, and is moderately aggressive. Its berries are small and not very abundant, so gathering enough berries for jam would require an inordinate amount of persistence.

All in all, an excellent symbol for the challenging task of pursuing a locavore life in Alaska.