{"id":46558,"date":"2025-02-26t20:01:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-26t20:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/?p=46558"},"modified":"2025-03-03t22:25:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03t22:25:02","slug":"more-than-just-cranberries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/more-than-just-cranberries\/","title":{"rendered":"more than just cranberries\u202f"},"content":{"rendered":"
the cranberry industry has surrounded me throughout my life. the bogs of bright red plants roll past my windows on all my drives home to southeast massachusetts. in 2010, the north and south rivers watershed association<\/a> reported that massachusetts was home to over 900 cranberry bogs covering 14,000+ acres, spanning from mattapoisett up to plymouth and out to orleans on cape cod. as of 2023, the number of functioning bogs were reportedly producing 2 million barrels of crop per year, decreasing 12% from numbers reported in 2022 according to the packer<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n when i was growing up, the bogs and water reservoirs would completely freeze over during the winter. the neighborhood kids would run outside after the snow had fallen, ice skates in hand, to chase each other around above the frozen berries. according to reports from the boston magazine<\/a>, in 2012 over 300 of the 415 cranberry farms in massachusetts were in plymouth county, with my childhood home sitting in the center.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n while large companies like ocean spray, located in carver, ma have established farms in the area, most of the farms are family-run and passed down through generations. these family farms have been suffering greatly with the recent rise in temperatures across massachusetts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n the massachusetts wildlife climate action tool<\/a> reported that the state should expect an annual increase in average temperature of 5\u00b0f under a high emissions scenario. with better resources and manpower, the larger corporations have been much more successful in adapting to this new climate. but warming winters are causing cranberry farmers to significantly alter the systems they use throughout harvest; systems they have spent decades fine-tuning and establishing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n isabella correia, a good friend of mine from high school, has spent most of her life on a set of bogs created and sustained by her grandfather.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n crimson cranberry farms is nestled deep in rochester ma, the family house rising from the middle of their three large bogs. off to the side, their man-made pond holds all the rainfall throughout the year to utilize when it’s time to flood the bogs come harvest and winter.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n this past harvest was not an easy one for crimson cranberry. despite its once-a-year harvest, cranberry production is a yearlong process. starting in spring, from april to november the berries take time to grow into the full red berries we see in supermarkets. <\/p>\n\n\n during this time, the plants are fertilized either through sprinkler systems or by hand if needed to help maintain nutrients. cranberries are native wetland plants, allowing the vines to live on very minimal nutrient supplements, so established beds need to be fertilized only once during the growing season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n come mid-september, farmers will start to harvest the berries through one of two methods; wet-harvesting and dry-harvesting. wet-harvesting entails flooding the cranberry bog with freshwater from a nearby reservoir. cranberries have air pockets that allow them to float in water and rise to the top of the flooded bog once they\u2019re knocked loose off the vine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n water reels, also referred to as \u201cegg beaters\u201d because of their whisking motion, are used to churn the water and remove the berries from the vine. wooden or plastic \u201cbooms\u201d are then used to gather the loose cranberries and scoop them out of the water to be inspected and cleaned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n cape cod cranberry growers association<\/a> (cccga) reports that almost 95% of the cranberry crop in massachusetts is harvested through wet-harvesting. this harvest is used for dried cranberries and those used in juices, sauces, and as ingredients in other processed foods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n dry-harvesting is a more meticulous process of combining the plants, using a large walk-behind machine, to free the berries into a burlap bag. the vines must be completely dry at harvest; any amount of moisture can delay the process until the right conditions are met. once the berries are gathered, they are pulled out of the bogs with trucks or by hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n the berries are then hand-checked for freshness, looking at the color and imperfections and testing the berries\u2019 ability to bounce. a fresh, ripe berry will bounce similarly to a rubber ball. dry-harvested berries are the only cranberries that can be sold fresh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n to protect the plants from overnight frost during the colder months, farmers spray the vines down with water through an irrigation system. as the water freezes on the vines, heat is released, protecting the plants throughout the night. the ice insulates the plants helping them survive through the dormant state that they are sent into by the cold temperatures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n according to reports by the university of maine<\/a>, cranberry vines need to have at least 62 days in temperatures under 45\u00b0f in the winter to properly go into dormancy. without dormancy, plants have less fruit yield the next harvest, abnormal growth patterns, and face significant frost damage, especially if the plant is younger and less developed.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n warmer winters and falls greatly affect a cranberry\u2019s ability to mature and the plant to remain healthy. a mature cranberry is bright red in color, plump and crisp, with a tart flavor that most people have come to love. immature cranberries are light pink and white in color with a very tart, astringent taste and quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n when i visited isabella this fall, she walked me through the poor fertilization of one of their bogs. due to a mild winter the year before, their back right bog did not get the chance to freeze and reach a dormancy period, compromising the plants and crop yields. when it came time to fertilize the plants in early fall, isabella shared concerns about the process. <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201ci tried to help fertilize the bogs,\u201d correia said. but, she adds, her grandfather is really the only one who knows how to properly do it. \u201c[isabella’s grandfather] is getting older so he can\u2019t be out in the field so much, [so] i\u2019m trying to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n but the most important aspect in this process is the water \u2014 more specifically, rain water. this rainfall is crucial to maintaining the water reservoirs used to flood and freeze the bogs. isabella expressed how depleted their water has become this season, significantly impacting their ability to harvest. \u201cwe barely had any water to flood our third bog\u2026 [the bog] was diseased anyway so the harvest wasn\u2019t good.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n rainfall is the main source of freshwater used to flood the bogs for harvest. it takes over 300,000 gallons of water per acre to properly flood a bog, and in typical conditions rainfall produces enough to last through the harvest with some left over for the next year. however, in the fall of 2024, massachusetts reached a critical drought level<\/a> and the rainfall was well under the typical 44 inches a year.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n due to rising temperatures in massachusetts, residents are also experiencing dry, hot summers and falls. less snowfall and earlier snowmelt is leading to low water levels throughout the spring and summer. with little to no precipitation and lack of access to proper resources, family-built farms like crimson cranberry will gradually cease to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n family farms have also begun to lose their efficiency in growing when competing with the large industrial cranberry marshes in wisconsin. as these bogs die out, federal programs have begun to convert them back to wetlands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n wetlands help prevent the coastal erosion along cape cod occurring due to the declining climate. the cranberry bog program<\/a> is a massachusetts-based federal program that focuses on buying farms that are deemed inefficient and converting the bogs back into wetlands. recently, a historical cranberry bog once on the mattapoisett river reserve in mattapoisett named the bogs<\/a> was converted back to wetlands after the plants had become diseased and it was retired from commercial production.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\ncrimson cranberry farm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
warming winters means bitter berries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
the dangers of decreased rainfall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
from cranberry bogs to wetlands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n