We visited the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Sixth Annual Harvest Celebration. The harvest season runs from mid-September through early November. So we are right in the middle of the harvest of these crimson berries. We were able to take a tour of the bogs and see the actual methods of harvesting and talk with the farmers one on one. It was at the A.D. Makepeace Cranberry Bog, one of the worlds largest cranberry growers. The Harvest Celebration had wagon and pony rides, cooking demonstrations, a marketplace selling cranberry baked goods and speciality products, entertainment and a craft show. Plus a huge concession area with local food vendors selling sandwiches, sea food, ice cream, kettle corn, and more. It was a great place for lunch! All this plus some education on cranberries:
- Cranberries are one of only three commercially grown fruits native to North America. The other two are blueberries and concord grapes.
- All good cranberries bounce
- 1 barrel of cranberries weigh 100 pounds
- 4,400 berries make 1 gallon of fresh cranberry juice
- There are over 100 different varieties of cranberries
As our photos show the harvest: when the berries are ready, the farmers flood the bogs with water allowing the machines to loosen the berries from the vines and float to the surface. Then by hand they corral the berries with plastic tubing into a general location where they will be sucked onto a conveyor belt as they are washed and put into trucks for processing into juice. The fresh cranberries you buy in the stores (in bags) are picked somewhat by hand from bogs that are not flooded. We actually got to pick cranberries and brought some home.
Hopefully tomorrow is sunny and our plan is to take the ferry over to Martha's Vineyard for some bike riding around the island. We are both really enjoying our Cape Cod visit and don't want to leave!
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