Cranberries
There are three fruits whose roots can be traced to North America: blueberries, concord grapes and cranberries! Cranberries sustained Americans for many, many years - for food, medicine (to treat arrow wounds), and as dyes for clothing and household items. Cultivation of cranberries began in the early 1800's, and are quite unique in their growing requirements: acid peat soil, fresh water, sand and a season that begins in early spring through early winter. Cranberries do not, as some believe, grow in water. They grow on vines in beds layered with sand, peat, clay and gravel. Their growing beds are known as "bogs", and some vines are over 150 years old - healthy vines will provide fruit indefinitely, and do not require replanting. Massachusetts, with over 13,000 acres of cranberry bogs, New Jersey, Wisconsin, British Columbia, Quebec, Washington and Oregon are major growing areas. These growing areas consist of less than 30,000 acres for cranberry production - every acre of cranberry bogs requires about four acres of supporting land. The cranberry wetlands provide very diverse habitat for animals - red-bellied turtles, otters, great blue herons, beautiful wood ducks, osprey, many species of fox and deer, and plants - gentian, arrowfoot, red root, water lilies, and meadow beauty.
The cranberry bogs are covered in water in the winter to protect the vines from frost. When the snow of winter melts and the new spring season arrives, the bogs are drained and the cranberry vines say hello to warm weather and begin to produce beautiful pale pink blossoms that resemble the sandhill cranes head and neck.
The bees begin their work of pollinating the flowers as they bloom, and by the middle of the summer, the petals begin to fall, and small green nodes appear, which after much summer sun become beautiful red cranberries.
The importance of fresh water - the life blood of cranberries - cannot be over-stated: irrigation, protection from weather damage, harvesting. The bogs are flooded during harvest, and the cranberries (they have small air pockets in the center of the berry) float to the top of the water. A water-reel is used to harvest the cranberries, which loosens the berries from the vines. The berries are then put on conveyers and trucked to packaging houses where they are packed for the fresh market, or processed.
Cranberry fact: fresh berries bounce, soft berries do not!
Cranberries packaged for the fresh markets are graded according to their color and ability to bounce.
Massachusetts, the nation's largest cranberry grower, includes over 500 growers (almost 40% of the cranberry supply), and employs around 6,000 people. The state's economy enjoys over $200 million from the cranberry harvests annually.
As an important part of the heritage of Massachusetts, harvest time is a celebration - beautiful settings during harvest, the environment in which the cranberries grow, and the continuing state tradition.
The North American cranberry variety - large berry - is v.macrocarpon - from macro which means large. The English word cranberry is a shortened version of craneberry - the flower which resembles the head of a crane. The cranes, by the way, love cranberries and make their homes in the bogs. Cranberries are also known as bounceberries as noted previously, and bearberries - bears love cranberries too!
Cranberries contain benzoic acid - a natural preservative - and Native Americans taught the Pilgrims a great deal about cranberries from preserving food to their culinary applications.
Cranberry fact: during the siege of Petersburg in 1864, General Grant ordered cranberry sauce for the troops!
Commercial canning of cranberries began in the early 1900's by the Cape Cod Cranberry Company. In 1998, researchers at Rutgers discovered that cranberry juice prevents E. coli bacteria from sticking to the cells of the urinary tract. Research also found that cranberries contain a strong vasodilator - opens the bronchial tubes. Cranberries are a great source of vitamin C, which helps enhance the immune system and aids in calcium absorption.
Fresh cranberries should be firm to the touch, shiny and plump, and have a color range of bright light red to dark red. Besides fresh berries, dried, frozen and canned fruit is available. Fresh cranberries can be stored for up to two months in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Note: remove any soft berries prior to storage, as soft, decaying berries will spread to the fruit being stored.
Ibimi, sassamanesh, atoqua - some of the names given to cranberries by the Pequots of Massachusetts, the Lenin-Lanape of New Jersey, and the Algonquins of Wisconsin. The Lenin-Lanapes distributed cranberries as a symbol of peace. Although it is not Known whether the first Thanksgiving dinner included cranberries, it is known that they were widely used prior to the arrival of settlers to the new world. In 1789, the New Jersey legislature passed a law fining anyone 10 shillings for picking cranberries before October 10.
One cup of fresh cranberries provides approximately 15 milligrams of vitamin C, 70 milligrams of potassium, and minimal calories -- cooking fresh cranberries with fruit sweeteners or fruit juice will keep the calorie count down.
Cranberry sauce, muffins, breads, freshly chopped and added to fresh fruit or vegetable salads and dressings, baked with apples and raisins for an amazing fruit pie, fresh juice, relish, sorbet, punch, dried and used as you would raisins - cranberries are very versatile!