Cape Cod Cranberries

As we rounded the corner on our favorite route back from Sesuit Harbor in Dennis this fall, Rich and I happened upon a cranberry bog in full harvest. It was one of those rare October days when the sky is impossibly blue, the sun warm, and the primary colors of summer softly waning autumnal. There in the midst of the bog the thrashers were churning slowly back and forth shaking the berries loose. Floating gently on the surface of the water, the fruit glistened in the bright sunshine. A brisk wind guided them slowly towards the edge of the bog. Armed with his brand new SLR camera, Rich felt as if he had hit the motherload of photo ops.

We spent over an hour watching the harvest, talking with the farmers, and taking pictures knowing that our guests would be interested in learning as much as we could share with them about the humble cranberry. So, here in a nutshell, is our newfound wealth of knowledge about Cape Cod cranberries and harvesting.

Famous for its tartness and beautiful color, the cranberry is an essential part of Thanksgiving, as well as Cape Cod’s namesake cocktail. Cranberries are big business here on Cape Cod as well as many parts of southeastern Massachusetts. The cranberry industry in Massachusetts does about $200 million in revenue annually and employs 5,600 people. One tenth of the cranberries grown in the state are grown here on Cape Cod. The world-famous Ocean Spray factory is located in Plymouth and has tours for the public.

Native Americans living on the cool, northern areas of North America showed early settlers how to pick the ibimi (their word) which grew wild in bogs. The settlers called them “Crane-berries” because their blossoms resembled the heads of cranes, and the berries were a valuable source of vitamin C, used by sailors to prevent scurvy The tart-tasting cranberry rendered the drab, gamey diet of colonial people palatable in the winter months.

Because cranberries require constant moisture, a bog, which is a spongy, low lying wetland that holds water and is full of ancient decayed vegetation, makes a fertile and moist natural habitat for cranberries. Water draining from adjoining ponds and lakes provides protection against frost for the young vines, which begin their annual cycle in early spring.

Today, commercial growers create bogs from appropriate areas by scraping off top brush, replacing it with sand, and planting young vines. The cranberries are ripe for harvest September through October. There are two ways to harvest cranberries: dry and wet. In a dry harvest, a machine that also trims the plants is rolled along the bogs, collecting berries, which are stored in large crates Then a helicopter lifts the crates off the bogs so as not to damage next year’s buds, which are already forming.

In a wet harvest, the bogs are flooded. A wide-tired machine called a water reel moves through the bog and beats the water, knocking the berries off the vines. Then, workers assemble miles of yellow tubing, called a boom, that corrals the berries into a conveyer belt .

While on your visit here, try some of the many products made with cranberries and/or observe a cranberry harvest. The Cranberry Harvest Festival in Harwich, usually held in mid-September, is a week-long celebration of this humble but tasty fruit, including food booths, music, crafts, a pancake breakfast, and fireworks. Here at the high Pointe Inn we serve Cranberry Vanilla jam made by the Chatham Jam and Jelly Shop in season. It is perfect with Rich’s homemade popovers and biscuits.

Fascinating Factoids

•    Each acre of planted cranberries, in accordance with Massachusetts law, must be surrounded by four acres of wetlands.
•    The variety grown by most growers on the Cape is early black, which although is it the most costly and difficult variety to grow, provides a rich, dark color to the juice.
•    Cranberries are also grown in Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, and New Jersey.