Page 77 - USA ROAD TRIP SUMMER of 2000

We learned that cranberries grow in soil – not in the water. They

like sandy, well-drained, acidic soil similar to blueberries. There is
no pit of seed in the berry. They are bitter. In processing, they use

two cups of sugar for every three cups of berries. A new plant

takes 4 to 5 years to put out its first berries. It is an evergreen and
lives under the ice in the winter. They flood the fields only at

harvest time in October so the berries will float above the plants
and the harvesting machine can pick them off the top of the water

without hurting the plants. Once a plant begins to produce, it will
put out a crop a year for decades.

During the winter, they spread a layer of sand on top of the ice so

that when the ice melts, there will be fresh, rich soil added to the

fields. When needed, they water the plants during the summer
with an irrigation system from a neighboring small lake. You can

see Lake Superior from the fields. The wind was fierce. What must
it be in January!!??

The farm has 5 fields each the size of a football field. They harvest

four 18-wheeler truckloads full of berries each year. They are
shipped by truck to Wisconsin (the cranberry growing capital of

the USA) for cleaning and freezing. They then are shipped through

the Great Lakes to New York for processing. That’s how they end
up on our tables at Thanksgiving.

We’re off to the west tomorrow to visit the north shore of the UP

(Upper Peninsula). Late to bed and early to rise makes one tired.

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