Thoughts of the cranberry probably cause memories of Ocean Spray commercials or circular slices of the jellied variety adorning a Thanksgiving platter, yet cranberries are one among the foremost healthful and multifarious fruit available. Found and grown in bogs throughout the hemisphere , cranberries are literally a kind of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines. With skinny, wire-like stems, and dark pink flowers, they’re fashionable the honeybee and anyone who likes a sweet fruit with an acidic kick.
In the US and Canada, cranberries are a serious commercial crop. they will be made into fruit juice (hence the pictures of the Ocean Spray commercials), condiment , cranberry jelly, or dried into candy-like treats, although many of us enjoy them fresh. Cranberries are increasingly recognized as an excellent fruit, along side the Acai berry and blueberry, among others, due to their antioxidant and nutrient content.
Vaccinium oxycoccos (Northern Cranberry) may be a species of cranberry found in Europe, northern Asia, and North America. These cranberries are small, pale pink, and have a tangy flavor. The Vaccinium microcarpum (Small Cranberry) may be a species of cranberry found in northern Europe and Northern Asia. American cranberry (Large Cranberry) may be a species of cranberry found in northeastern North America, and is one among the foremost popular varieties thanks to its closeness to an apple taste. Cranberries are close cousins to huckleberries, bilberries, and blueberries.
Cranberries got their name by early European settlers. These pioneers believed that the flower, stem, calyx, and petals of the cranberry plant looked considerably just like the neck, head, and bill of a crane, so naming the fruit the “cranberry.” In Northeastern Canada, cranberries are often called “moss berries,“ yet the normal English name for the tangy fruit is “fen berry,” thanks to the berries growth within the “fen,” or marshes. Native Americans first consumed cranberries, or as they dubbed them, Sassamanash, as food, medicine, and colorant. they’ll have given them to starving European settlers, who then incorporated them into their Thanksgiving feasts. It wasn’t until the 1820s that cranberries were exported to Europe, where they became popular within the Nordic countries, Russia, and Scotland.
How are cranberries grown? Well, Ocean Spray commercials just about have it right. the lads in those goofy rubber overalls, surrounded by a veritable sea of berries are quite representative of what one might see during a cranberry bog. within the US, cranberries are cultivated in Maine, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Washington, Michigan, Oregon, Minnesota, and New Jersey; Wisconsin leads production with over 50% of the market share, followed by Wisconsin with 28%. Traditionally, cranberries were grown in wetlands, yet today they’re constructed in beds in uplands with a shallow water level .
There is no topsoil, which is scraped off and replaced with clean sand, brought in at four to eight inches, then leveled off. The beds are often drained by socked tile or the perimeter ditch, dug round the bed. Cranberries are grown by moving established vines from one bed to a replacement one. The vines are pushed into the sand then watered until roots form. they’re showered with nitrogen fertilizer until they’re a year old. they’re harvested within the fall, when the berries are finally crimson .
Cranberries have numerous health benefits. they’re filled with vitamin C , fiber and manganese. Cranberries are rich sources of antioxidants, with benefits to the system , circulatory system , and aid in fighting off carcinogens. they will fight cavity and stop kidney infections, including kidney stones, and consumption has been shown to scale back stress.