All I want to do is fall backwards into the bog or do a cannonball into the "red sea." Even now, as I stand knee-deep in spiders, cranberries, and the harvesting season, it starts to hit me how much labor and love goes into this tiny little fruit. There are two methods of harvesting cranberries. It's quite sour. For many the only thing they may think of when they prepare cranberries is that sucking sound that the solid mass of cranberry makes as it slides out of the can. In the meantime, travel to the store and pick up a pack of fresh berries while they are in season. The red berries are tart and appropriately colored for the season with a bright red color. I take a cue from Ben and pop a few of the crunchy, tart berries into my mouth. Fresh cranberries, the ones you buy in the produce aisle every fall, are harvested using the dry method. Most cranberries are made into juice, jelly/compote, or sauce. The vines are long-lived and some are thought to be over 150 years old, which makes them ideal for cultivation because they do not need replanting. The first successful water harvesting was in the 1960s; this is the predominant method of cranberry harvesting used today. Cranberries are a type of evergreen shrub, which is perhaps why they have come to represent the holidays, with their red berries and evergreen trimmings. Plastic booms are then used to round up the berries, where they are sucked into trucks and taken to a cleaning station. Navigate the map to find a participating farm. Common Cranberry Pests and Disease. Sue Gilmore; Photo by Katherine Alex Beaven. ", I shimmy through the bog, hoping that it helps deter the arachnids from anchoring onto me. Ocean Spray Cranberry farms are a part of a large cooperative established in 1933 that includes the US, Canada, and Chile. Berries are then removed from the bogs by either bog vehicles or helicopters. ... 31 Cranberry Ln Centerville, MA 02632 (Apr 2005 - Sep 2005) PO Box 648 Hyannis Port, MA 02647 ... 8 Harvest Dr Milford, NH 03055 (Jun 2010) 21310 Highway 11 … That night I’d practically torn away from the group upon arrival, jumping into a pair of waders before heading straight into the bog, which was cleverly set up like a bar and featured an impressive selection of cranberry booze. It looks like a slightly curved, large-toothed comb with a basket on the end, and I’m told to brush the comb through the vines with a slight rocking motion to separate the cranberries from the vines before dumping them into a wooden crate. In truth, I love it. The harvest begins a day before the farmer actually collects the berries as he pumps water into the cranberry fields. However, it takes about 6 years before the young vines produce fruit. However, the most iconic images of cranberry growing comes from the wet harvesting (which is about 95% of cranberries harvested). Weeds, insects, and pathogenic fungi thrive in the boggy, wetland conditions needed to cultivate cranberries. The trouble comes from the fact that cranberries have high levels of a chemical called oxalate. Before I can answer, Cas follows up with "How do you like the spiders?  Cranberries grow along the ground as a creeping shrub that can get up to 6-7 ft long. Native Americans cultivated cranberries and incorporated it into their pemmican (a mixture of meat, berries, animal fat and sometimes seeds dried into portable food, think of today's power bars). Cranberries get their name from their flowers, which are dark pink, and look like the bill of a crane. Here's a great video on how cranberries are harvested. (Note:  using a little less water will make your sauce a bit thicker, and go a little light on the sugar until you taste the sauce, then adjust to your taste.  If you prefer to add a bit of orange peel to the mix, use a light hand as it can be a very dominant taste. I n many backyards the most conspicuous "spider" isn't a spider at all, but rather something related to the spiders, as are scorpions, ticks, mites, centipedes and millipedes. While the berries are growing, budding, and flowering, the spiders make home in the vines, cleaning the vines of any insects. There are several opportunities for you to get in a pair of waders and splash around in a cranberry bog. Cranberries might have one of the more spectacular-looking harvests of any food. This family eats, breathes, and bleeds cranberries; can trace their lineage back to the Mayflower; and gives thanks to this tart and tiny native fruit — spiders and all — all year long. Wet harvesting is when cranberry bogs are flooded with water. 2 bags of fresh cranberries, sorted and rinsed. The farmers use a technique developed by Captain Henry Hall, who discovered that by leaving sand on the ice when the ice melts and the sand falls into the vines it stimulates the development of new roots and covers the base of the plants, protecting the root system. I’m not paying attention to all the action around me. All products are independently selected by our writers and editors. Well, that's all my nightmares come to life at once, so thanks for that. For breakfast on the go, try one of our tasty blueberry and cream cheese scones or our… Drinking cranberry juice can increase the amount of oxalate in urine by as much as 43%, which is a lot! In a large pot, stir sugar and cloves into water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and add cranberries to water and stir gently until berries begin to pop.   Cut orange into small pieces and add to cranberries, continuing to stir gently till berries are all popped.  Add walnuts and mix thoroughly.   Transfer to a pretty bowl and let cool about an hour before transferring to refrigerator.  Serve with turkey dinner.  Accept compliments! Dry Harvesting Dry harvesting uses walk-behind machines to comb the berries off the vines into burlap bags. Cranberry chambers; Photo by Katherine Alex Beaven. Thank you! In fact, some cranberry bogs are more than 150 years old! Pick through them and remove any squishy, brown, or discolored berries. "Yeah, not much," I reply. A flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers had landed on the floating cranberries to forage on spiders that were using the cranberries as life-preservers. Riding on the mechanical pickers; Photo courtesy of Ocean Spray. New cranberry beds are typically planted between March and May, and require about 3 years to reach full production potential, reaching their peak after 4 to 6 years. The name, cranberry, derives from the German, kraanbere (English translation, craneberry), first named as cranberry in English by the missionary John Eliot in 1647. I firmly believe in knowing about what you eat, how it grows, and how it is produced. We share with you everything you need to know about growing cranberries, from the varieties, the tricks, pruning, pests to be aware of, harvesting and storing. Others flood the bogs and corral the cranberries, which float. So, all things in moderation.. Nutrition Facts about cranberries can be found by clicking here. At one point I’m trying to get that perfect shot, and at another, I’m raking and pushing the berries toward the suction hose that takes them to the large loading truck parked next to the bog. 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