I stood in a real Cranberry Bog!
Posted on October 13 2017
Does this remind you of an Ocean Spray commercial? I wasn't featured in a commercial but I did stand with waders on, in a real cranberry bog on Cape Cod in Massachusetts! The fall season on "the Cape" means cooler weather, less crowds, and cranberry harvest time! Did you know cranberries grow on low lying vines and in something called "bogs"? Well, they do and I decided to go visit a small, family owned and run farm since our cranberry orange collection is inspired by these gorgeous bogs. There are 14,000 acres of cranberry bogs in Massachusetts, mostly in Southeastern Mass, Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, so I did a little research and chose to tour Stone Bridge Farm. It's owned by Joanne and Scott Harding and they couldn't have been more knowledgeable or giving of their time and attention.
After arriving at the farm, we were greeted by Joanne and then Scott gave us a brief history lesson of the cranberry fruit as he stood eating raw and bitter cranberries (no sugar added!). Here are a few things I learned:
* Cranberry harvesting started in the 1800's and some of the farms in existence today are over a hundred years old.
* Harvesting in the "old days" was back breaking work and was done by hand using a wooden version of this small sifting machine.
* Cranberries are harvested using a dry method for supplying fresh cranberries for eating, baking and cooking and a wet method for juices, drying and sauces. Over 90% of the cranberries harvested use the wet method. The bogs are flooded with water and since the fruit has air in the center the cranberries rise to the top when the machine cuts them off the vine. The cranberries are then gathered and put through a sifter to weed out sticks, vines and other materials.
* Look at how the various shades of red and pink berries rise to the top and look so vibrant. It was beautiful to see in person.
* Cranberries are known to be a "super fruit" with high levels of antioxidants and vitamins. We use cranberry seed oil in our products because of it's nourishing skin benefits.
If you are interested in taking a road trip to these fabulous bogs here is a link that has event information. I highly recommend putting on those waders and having some fun while learning a thing or two!
If you've toured a cranberry bog before or have any questions please comment below. I'd love to hear from you!
Be well...
Lisa
Founder, Chief creator - Wild Air Skincare
11 comments
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Thank you Helen!
Super cool to see behind the scenes of your research!!
Hi Pam and Hope! Thank you for your comments. Pam, the berries grow on low lying vines and in order to facilitate harvesting them, they are flushed with water so they can rise to the top and be cut off the vines for gathering.
You’re in a cranberry bog!! :) I (foolishly I now realize) thought the berries grew in the water. Sheesh. I hope I’m not the only one.
What a fun and interesting experience. We go to the Cape every year. The Shining Sea bike trail in Falmouth passes through several cranberry bogs. We’ll have to take a tour next time!