Cranberry Bogging and Apple Picking in Plymouth, MA

Last weekend, BU Dining Services held their second annual Cranberry Bog/Apple Picking trip in Plymouth, MA! It was a great experience to get an educational guided tour of the Ocean Spray cranberry bogs from the assistant director of the Ocean Spray plant.

So how does that signature cranberry sauce reach the table??? Let's take it back to its roots:

Cranberries are harvested in autumn, between September and November, when they reach their peak coloring (cranberry-red, I suppose!). These berries grow on evergreen dwarf shrubs that grow in arid, sandy soil, on low, entangled, creeping vines. We actually stepped in the bog, on top of the berries, and it was surprising how resilient they were; only a few broke beneath our shoes.

There isn't much maintenance to the bogs, besides to keep track of the nutrient levels. One of the main issues that cranberry farmers are concerned with is fertilizer usage: too many nutrients, and the vines grow too long in proportion to the amount of fruit they bear. Too few nutrients, and the fruit doesn't come to fruition.

The cranberry bogs are set into the ground, shallow plots of ground carved out for flooding purposes. In the past, boggers picked berries by hand (we also got to grab a handful of berries on the spot, they were a little bit bitter, but delicious!), but nowadays, they flood the wells, corrall the floating ones in a corner, and use a machine to vacuum them into a huge truck, where they are washed. Much more efficient!

Apparently, the occasional turtle gets caught in between the berries and lands in the truck, but they are always returned to their habitat after being found. A little concerning, though. o.O

An example of corralling the berries as part of the wet-harvesting technique

To the blackberry patches we go!

We also got to pick fresh apples, raspberries, and blackberries from another local organic farm. Not surprisingly, these fruit (for once) didn't make me have an allergic reaction, thanks to the omission of chemicals in their growing process!