Gathering Berries

Gathering Berries

Cloudberries, blueberries and lingonberries abound — Enontekiö's wild berries are pure and aromatic, ripe for picking in late summer and autumn.

Thanks to the pure and Arctic air, the natural produce found in Enontekiö – wild berries, mushrooms, herbs, fish, reindeer and game birds – are all pure and aromatic. During late summer the area's berries and mushrooms are ripe for picking.

  • Blueberries ripen late July; lingonberries in the second half of August
  • Cranberries are the last to arrive, at the end of September
  • Grouseberries paint the fells red with autumn colour
  • Berry picking is covered by Everyman's Rights

Cloudberries, Blueberries and Lingonberries Abound

Blueberries (mustikka: Vaccinium myrtillus) ripen towards the end of July. Black crowberries (variksenmarja: Empetrum nigrum) come next, and then lingonberries (puolukka: Vaccinium vitis-idaea) in the second half of August. The last berries to arrive are the cranberries (karpalo: Vaccinium oxycoccos) at the end of September.

High on the hills, grouseberries (riekonmarja: Arctostaphylos alpina) appear at the end of August — the plant that paints the fells red in autumn. Its berries are dark like crowberries and lie close to the ground. Bog whortleberries (juolukka: Vaccinium uliginosum) also appear around this time; these and cranberries are likely to gain socio-economic importance across Europe in the coming years.

A way of life

Picking berries is such an important pursuit that Finland has been forced to address the working rights of international pickers. A court ruled that the pickers do not have an employment relationship because they are independent entrepreneurs.