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History of
Cranberries
Cranberries
are one of only three fruits native to North America. This tart little berry was a staple of Native Americans long
before the Pilgrims landed. The
most popular food use was pemmican, a sort of winter survival ration made of
crushed cranberries, wild game meat and melted fat.
Native Americans also ate cranberries mashed with cornmeal and baked into
bread. Non-food uses included dye
to color blankets and rugs, and a medicinal ingredient for treatment of arrow
wounds.
Native
Americans taught early settlers to utilize this wild fruit for food, and it
became a staple along with salt cod and cornmeal. Sailors began to take barrels of cranberries to sea to
prevent scurvy. The fruit was
initially referred to as “crane berry”, because the plant’s slender stem
and downward-hanging blossom resemble the neck, head and beak of a crane.
Over time the word was shortened to “cranberry”.
Commercial
cultivation of cranberries began on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1816, when
Captain Henry Hall noticed that the wild cranberries in his bogs grew better
when sand blew over them. He began
transplanting vines and spreading sand on them. The technique was quickly copied by others, resulting in a
growing number of cranberry farms on Cape Cod.
Of note, many of these farms are still in operation today and are
harvesting cranberries off the same vines!
The
American cranberry is a trailing vine with runners up to six feet long.
Short uprights grow off the runners and bear flowers and fruit.
The cranberry vines grow in beds layered with sand and peat.
These beds are known as bogs.
The
vines come out of dormancy in spring and flower in early summer.
The fruit is harvested September to early November.
Initially cranberries were harvested by hand and later with wooden
scoops. The “teeth” of the scoop combed the vines and lifted off
the berries. Today cranberries are
harvested by two methods – dry harvesting and wet harvesting.
Dry
harvested fruit is sold fresh, and is combed off the vine with a mechanical
version of the scoop. For wet
harvesting the bogs are flooded with water, and mechanical harvesters with large
egg beater-like reels agitate the water causing the berries to dislodge from the
vines. The berries float and are
corralled to a corner and moved by conveyor into trucks.
Wet harvested berries are used for processed products such as juice,
sauce and dried cranberries.
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Sue
Faria, President |
The
popularity of cranberries is growing rapidly.
The fruit is now used in a myriad of products including cereal, yogurt,
bagels, energy bars and soft drinks. Established
in 1996, Cape Cod Provisions broadened usage to include a variety of cranberry
and chocolate confections. Unique flavor combinations and eye-catching packaging has
resulted in growing sales across the U.S. and abroad. Cape Cod Cranberry Candy™ has been written up in national
magazines including Chocolatier and Vegetarian Times. In 2000, Cape Cod Provisions was awarded the Small Business
of the Year award from Cape Cod SCORE.
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