As we are getting close to Thanksgiving, we are excited to highlight cranberries! Not just a fruit in a can, cranberries are incredibly special and only grow from April-November on low-lying vines in beds. These beds are called bogs or marshes that have sand, peat, gravel, or clay. Incredibly, these bogs were first created by glacial deposits!
Considered a Native American wetland fruit, it grows on vines (similar to strawberries) and needs rich soil and water to thrive. Incredibly, there are some cranberry vines in America that are over 150 years old! As a perennial crop, cranberries can grow on the same vine every year (as long as there’s no damage) that is cultivated during a dry or wet harvesting phase. With dry harvesting, farmers use a raking machine to harvest the berries and place them in stacks and then go through them to remove any bad berries. The wet harvest phase is very manual where a bog gets flooded for 12 hours. The next day, the farmers walk through the bog and poke at the vines to loosen the cranberries as they float to the top.
Known for their bitter and tart flavor, cranberries are also very high in antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C, K, A, potassium, and much more!
While it is popular for Thanksgiving as cranberry sauce, cranberries can also be enjoyed as a jam, in salsas, and more!
