Following my article on holiday traditions and cranberry jelly, many of you begged me for more information on this little fruit and its cultivation. Here, then, is everything you need to know about cranberries, their cultivation and their benefits…
… And, above all, why I would NEVER go to work in a cranberry farm!
Quebec Cranberries
Did you know that Quebec is Canada’s largest cranberry-producing province? 80% of our growers are located in the Centre-du-Québec region. And with good reason! Growing cranberries requires two things: relatively flat land and sandy soil. Cranberries don’t live in water; contrary to popular belief, they prefer dry soil.
The cranberry is a creeping shrub that produces fruit from its third year. It likes acid soils and requires virtually no maintenance. As a plant native to North America that grows wild in acidic bogs, it’s easy to grow: the climate is ideal. It’s not like trying to grow bananas, which would require a lot more work to accommodate the plant.
It requires only one or two fertilizations a year and little maintenance: cutting back damaged branches and vegetative stems every three years. Does this mean little work for growers? No. There’s always insect and weed control, watering (which, fortunately, is done by sprinklers), and managing that great challenge of laidback lazy gardener: winter!
Cold? Fine. but the Rest…!
Although the cranberry is adapted to our climate and resistant to freezing temperatures, there are two things to consider: 1. It’s a field, and 2. … It’s a field!
A single cranberry plant in a peat bog is protected by other plants, trees and the large quantity of water in the soil. The winds, ice and meters of snow that accumulate on the shrub are much less intense. The plant in the middle of a field takes all the winter’s elements in its stride.
Then you have to consider the profitability of the field. In nature, if half the branches, buds and flowers are washed away by the cold season and spring frosts… Well, who cares? The tree doesn’t suffer at all. But for the grower who loses half his crop, it’s a different story.
Winter Protection
That’s why, even though it’s a plant that’s perfectly capable of surviving the harsh Canadian winter, growers need to protect it.
How do we do it? Dress each plant individually? Do we dig them up and put them in the barn? Do we put wool caps and mittens on them?
No, the answer is much simpler… and spectacular! Freeze the plants. Cover them with 6 inches of ice. Make a big frozen cranberry lake. See you in the spring!
It’s a fascinating practice: the buds, which form in autumn, are highly resistant to the cold, so freezing them does them no harm. Whether it’s wind, snow or hail, cranberries are well protected with a “roof” over their heads… Or rather, around their heads! In spring, the buds give way to 30-centimetre-high runners, which bear flowers and then fruit.
Once again, this practice is no picnic for growers, who have to flood the field at the right time in December and drain it in spring, while watering copiously in case of spring frost.
Harvesting
Have you ever seen a cranberry harvest? It’s absolutely fascinating! When the fruits are immature, they’re white, then, when they change color to that lovely crimson hue responsible for so many stained Christmas tablecloths, the fruits are ripe. At this point, growers beat their fields to detach the fruit from the plants, then open the valves of the reservoirs.
Cranberries are harvested by flooding the field. Thanks to the four cells inside the fruit, they float. As the water floods the field, its surface turns red, and all the berries rise to the surface. A floating belt is then slid across the surface to carry the cranberries to the side of the basin where the huge cranberry sweeper is located. And boom! A truckload of cranberries!
Why Won’t I Ever Work in a Cranberry Field?
Because when it’s time to harvest, you have to get in the water to make sure it’s working properly. It’s October, it’s cold, but with the right equipment, it’s not so bad. The real problem (for me) is that all the little bugs in the plantation drown, fly away or float away. And among the floating critters are… spiders!
Indeed, an invaluable colleague of growers and, I must confess grudgingly, gardeners in general, eight-legged critters abound in these fields, and particularly in organic fields, which account for more than a third of our Quebec cranberry fields.
Isn’t it great to be the world’s #1 producer of organic cranberries? Well, think of those poor cranberry workers wading through their soup of fruit and spiders: they deserve all our admiration.
With the right equipment, it’s still not too bad, but here’s where I completely lose interest: instinctively, these little predators head for “dry land”. These are not aquatic animals that are comfortable in, or in this case, on the water.
But to them, YOU ARE THE ONLY THING THAT COMES OUT OF THE WATER.
If you read me regularly, you’ll know that I roll around in the grass screaming when I come across one of these horrible creatures in my garden. Can you imagine me as a spider lifesaver? Frankly, just thinking about it gives me the shivers.
Where Does All This Water Come From?
It’s a question you have to ask yourself: after all, you’re flooding and freezing the field, but that water can’t stay there all the time, since cranberries aren’t aquatic plants and wouldn’t survive a submerged life. So you need to be able to drain the fields after harvest, as well as in the spring, but also make sure you don’t put the water too far away to be able to reuse it. You can’t fill a field like a swimming pool, with a garden hose, and even less with the city’s water system!
The cranberry farm has a reservoir. Not a gigantic jug of water, no, it’s a lake.
Think big: two lakes, in fact! One lake upstream and one downstream, for rapid flooding and drainage of the fields. The water is controlled by a clever system of pumps and gates, and the fields are flooded in turn to limit water volume requirements. A lake may be big, but so is a field: we’re not connected to the Great Lakes after all! So, one field at a time, water is recovered and recycled year after year.
Long-Known Benefits
Long before settlers arrived on American soil, the First Nations harvested wild cranberries. They used it not only for its culinary virtues, but also to treat various ailments, and even to preserve meat. In fact, it was one of the foods given to settlers suffering from scurvy (caused by a severe vitamin C deficiency).
Loaded with vitamin C, cranberries are low in sugar and sodium. It’s excellent for healthy bones and teeth, and its non-stick properties make it an ally against plaque, ulcers and urinary tract infections (especially in women). By eating plenty of cranberries, the internal walls (mouth, stomach, bladder) are protected from bacteria, which then have difficulty clinging on and are simply evacuated by the body.
Cranberries’ antioxidant properties are ideal for cardiovascular health and raising good cholesterol levels.
Cranberries aren’t just a traditional medicine with no basis in fact; their positive effects have been demonstrated in numerous studies. Fresh, dried or in juice, in a salad, cocktail or sauce: it’s summer, it’s a local fruit (in Quebec), and it tastes great. Enjoy without moderation!
Thanks to the Association des producteurs de canneberges du Québec for their review of this article, as well as the use of their photos. If you’d like to learn more about their practices or growers, I invite you to visit their website.
Good article!
I knew about harvesting but the care required the remainder of the year is very interesting and innovative. Great re-use of water. Thank you for another well written article.
Very interesting article! We really like cranberries, but I didn’t know about their properties. Sometimes we enjoy them and we don’t know how much work they require. Thank you very much for this information.
Very interesting! And good on you having a garden and the career you do when you have a phobia of spiders. That takes guts!