Young forager Ailu Lehmuslehti sells berries for Ijahis Idja festival in Inari

During the hottest days of summer, while mosquitoes cling to the skin, 12-year-old Ailu Lehmuslehti remains unfazed. “I put on a jacket with a hood, so only my eyes are visible,” she says. While foraging for cloudberries, Ailu spots an unusual find. “What?” she exclaims, laughing with delight. Unexpectedly, she discovers a fishing lure in the marsh and quickly adds it to her collection by hanging it on her bucket.

Ailu and her brother Arvi Lehmuslehti have managed to gather nearly five kilograms of cloudberries in just a few days, selling all their harvest through social media. Ailu mentions that there are more buyers than they can supply. She plans to use the money earned from selling the berries to attend the Ijahis Idja music festival in Inari.

Typically, Ailu picks cloudberries in the evening and at night to avoid the day’s heat. She finds berry-picking to be an enjoyable task, despite the challenges posed by mosquitoes and difficult terrain. “I just think and walk,” Ailu explains.

This year, the cloudberry yield in Upper Lapland is expected to be average or slightly above average, according to Rainer Peltola, a researcher at the Natural Resources Institute Finland. Although the pollination was not ideal during flowering, the marshes have not been affected by frost this season. Peltola notes that while there is always a risk of frost during the ripening phase in Upper Lapland, he has not received reports of such damage this year.