cranberry

CRANBERRIES

The cranberry was first cultivated in the United States in 1816 on Cape Cod. The fruit takes its name from the appearance of the flower, which, just before expanding into perfection, bears a marked resemblance to the neck, head and bill of a crane. Hence the name 'craneberry," which usage has made into "cranberry."

Americans look forward to seeing cranberries on the traditional Thanksgiving table. Massachusetts and Wisconsin produce the majority of the United States' annual crop of cranberries. The remaining U. S. cranberry crop comes mainly from New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington.

Contrary to popular belief, cranberries do not grow in water. Instead, they grow on vines in beds layered with sand, peat, clay, and gravel. These beds, are commonly known as "bogs." Water is used for regular irrigation, and during frost and heat cycles. In some areas where water-harvesting is done, the beds are flooded to aid in harvest procedures.

Cranberry harvest scoops were introduced in the 1850's as an aid in the manual picking of cranberries.The first cranberry scoops were wooden baskets with comb-like wooden teeth that would pull the berries off the vines into the basket. (Sometimes antique scoops are set upright and used in the home as magazine racks.)

Ron demonstrates a traditional cranberry scoop.

The cranberry scoop method of harvesting left a great number of berries on the vine and was very labor intensive. Since World War II, growers have used an assortment of mechanical pickers.

Today, more efficient and less damaging mechanical techniques are used. During wet harvesting, a section of bog is flooded with a foot or so of water. A machine called a water reel beats the submerged vines with a series of horizontal paddles. This causes the naturally-buoyant cranberries to detach from the vines and float to the surface of the water.

The floating berries are corralled with inflatable booms, then pumped into waiting trucks. Following washing and screening, the berries are processed by fruit handlers.

Cranberry facts:

»Holistic practitioners promote the virtues of cranberry juice for overcoming urinary tract infections.

»A white and red cranberry are the same thing. The color of the berry depends on when it is harvested. Normally cranberries are harvested in October...by harvesting earlier you get a berry that has not yet turned red...thus the white color.

»Cranberries are one of only three fruits native to North America.

History of Cranberries
http://www.cranberries.org/cranberries/history.html