It is fall harvest time down on the cranberry bog. The cranberries are dark red. It's time to harvest! There are two ways to harvest cranberries.
Wet harvesting is when part of the bog is purposely flooded. A machine called a water reel beats the vines. It helps cranberries pull away from the vines and float to the surface of the water. The floating cranberries are collected. Then the fruit is loaded onto trucks. Next, cranberries have to be washed to remove leaves and dirt. The good berries are pulled out from the bad berries. Good berries bounce along a separator. Bad berries do not bounce and get thrown out. Finally, the wet harvested cranberries reach your supermarket. You'll find these berries as canned cranberries, cranberry sauce, and cranberry juice.
Dry harvesting is another way to harvest cranberries. The bogs are not flooded. Instead a machine picks cranberries off the vines. This machine looks like a giant lawnmower! As the machine picks cranberries, it lifts the fruit into a container.
The dry harvested cranberries are also washed. Good berries are separated from bad berries. Soft brushes polish the fruit. Dry harvested cranberries are sold at your supermarket as fresh cranberries. They are often packaged in bags and found in the produce section of the supermarket.
No matter how cranberries are harvested, they are tasty to drink or eat as part of a Thanksgiving feast. They can also be found in yummy holiday goodies!
Activities:
1. In your own words please retell how cranberries are harvested. What kind of harvesting do you think is more difficult? Why?
2. Cranberries are rich in antioxidants and excellent sources of vitamin C. They are a superfood. What can you make with cranberries? How do cranberries grow? Discuss with your partners and watch the following video.
