We get our cranberries from cranberry bogs in Wisconsin, Massachusetts (Cape Cod) and Quebec, Canada. In this "North Land," cranberry vines lay deeply dormant under a protective layer of ice during the cold winter, in preparation for a busy season that begins in May and ends with a fall harvest. By the end of June, the vines are in full bloom and honeybees by the millions pollinate their delicate flowers. By July, small berries appear and continue to increase in size and weight until mid-September when the bogs are flooded. Harvesters are used to help loosen the berries from the vines, allowing the bright red cranberries to float to the surface where they are corralled, gathered and later pressed into cranberry juice for our delicious Northland juices.
Cranberries are one of three naturally growing fruits that are native to North America. The other two are Concord grapes and blueberries. American Indians ate cranberries fresh, ground, or mashed with cornmeal and baked into bread. The berry's tangy taste was sometimes sweetened with maple sugar or honey. Cranberries were even used by Native Americans in poultices to draw poison from arrow wounds. The juice of the cranberry was often used to die blankets and rugs, and was thought to have a calming effect on the nerves.
Pilgrim settlers referred to this fruit as "crane berries" because the plant's tiny stem and delicate pink flower reminded them of the graceful head, neck and beak of a crane. The word has evolved to where today we refer to them as cranberries.
As Europeans came to America, they began to discover and enjoy this delicious and powerful fruit. Early French-American traders exploring Wisconsin waterways bartered for cranberries with Native Americans. Cranberries provided their sailors with sufficient vitamin C to prevent scurvy at sea. Today, we are still enjoying cranberries and continue to discover their unique health benefits.