Cape Cod area of New England is famous for its cranberry bogs. In October cranberries are ready to pick. To harvest the cranberries, the cranberry beds are flooded with water. Water reels are driven through the beds, as the reels turn they knock the berries off of the vines into the water. Then the farmers take advantage of the fact that cranberry berries float on top of the water. A floating tube, known as a boom, is floated around the berries to keep them all together. Then a suction hose from a truck is put in the water. It sucks in water and cranberries, and then filters out the cranberres discarting the water. You can see the farmer guiding the berries towards the hose opening which is marked by the four posts in the water.
I've never seen cranberry harvesting, so one day recently we decided to follow the cranberry harvest trail and see it in person. Seeing harvesting in person involves quite a bit of luck, as each bog is harvest just once a year, and where the harvesting occurs is not announced anywhere. We drove from bog to bog all day, and each bog was already harvested. We decided we were too late and it seemed like we will not see cranberry harvesting in person this year. Disappointed and tired we turned back and were on our way home, when all of sudden I spotted a red bog on the right. It was a beautiful sight!
The beautiful cranberries are my contributions to Ruby Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday and Watery Wednesday
30 comments:
I have never seen cranberries harvested, even though I grew up just north of Cape Cod. I used to drink lots of cranberry juice (now I drink water or tea or coffee - boring). He looks quite diligent.
What an interesting post!
I'd love to see this in person myself. Glad you finally found one to share with us.
Can't help but think of the Cranberry juice commercial. :)
Carletta’s Captures.
The crop of the Cape. The bogs are wild. I remember going on vacation where on Route 25 the signs say 'No Salt Zone', I guess not to use road salt where the highway passes near some bogs. Nicely captured, and a perfect RT harvest!
This was very interesting. Thanks for sharing. HRT
Wow cranberries look interesting! :)
My RT entry is here.
There sure area lot of cranberries there! Interesting post!
Cool post on the cranberries, I too thought of the commercial on tv.
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, I am snacking on dried cranberries right now, as I type. Great photos.
Mine's posted. "I came, HE SAWED, we conquered."
Here's the permalink to Tuesday's entry.
Fascinating information and photos. I'm a cranberry lover and have never seen any of this before. Thanks for sharing and for visiting MY Ruby Rose at Small Reflections.
Hugs and blessings,
What a wonderful post. i have only seen it on the TV. Would love to visit a farm to see first hand.
wow those are lots of cranberries! my fave!
u may view mine if u have time
How interesting.
Sydney - City and Suburbs
It is great to see those cranberry bogs and this is a fun and interesting post. Thanks for sharing.
I have never seen these many cranberries! Like everybody else is saying, just like the commercial, even the outfit!
A very informative post!
Ebie's Watery Wednesday.
So glad you were able to see the harvest!
Oh my you got so lucky!
Check out swimming with the kids.
Would love to see that with my own eyes! Looks really interesting! Have a great Outdoor Wednesday and have a wonderful week: ) Sherri
This is just fascinating. Thank you for sharing how cranberries are harvested. Just truly amazing. Love all of your photos, too.
Happy OW!
XO,
Sheila :-)
What an interesting post...loved the photos...the only photos I've seen of a cranberry bog is those on tv commercials!!!
Interesting, and great pictures - thanks for sharing. New commercial on TV tonight. :)
Wow what an experience, thank you for sharing your pictures and story with us!
Would be so awesome to really see cranberry harvest.. I only see it in tv commercials
We explored the Mountain Park this time.
How cool this is! I attended a cranberry harvest in Ontario a few weeks ago and it's done a little bit differently here...but the cranberries still float. LOL
Wow that is cool I did not know they will harvest that way. Happy watery Wednesday.
This was a fascinating post. How fortunate you were to actually see the harvest. Have a wonderful Outdoor Wednesday.
wow i had only seen this on TV in those commercials but these pictures are awesome
These are great pictures of a cranberry bog. Do you mind if I blow them up and show my second grade students? We will be reading "Cranberry Thanksgiving" in two weeks the story takes place next to a cranberry bog in New England. I would love to have actual pictures to share with them. Anita
Amazing photos! It's funny how we drink cranberry juice without contemplating the effort that is put into harvesting the cranberries. Quite interesting indeed!
What a neat process. Thanks for sharing!
This is rather interesting! Until now I was thinking that cranberries are growing in forests:)
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