Vaccinium oxycoccos in a bog near you!



Local cranberry bog 2006



This past Thanksgiving weekend, I was really excited to get into the boat to carry on the tradition we started in 2006, even though it was freezing outside…  Thankfully, it was a short boat ride!  It only took a few twists and turns through a winding, lily-padded wetland and we were there: we made it to the bog.

Bogs are interesting in their own right; they are natural water purifiers and are home to many interesting plants like sundews, Labrador tea, and pitcher plants.  But, what we were searching for was much tastier: cranberries!

 The small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos) is a unique plant.  The subshrub, belonging to the heath family (Ericaceae), has beautiful pink flowers that bloom in the middle of summer.  The leaves are small and leathery, and are attached to a low-growing, vine-like plant that trails amongst the sphagnum moss.  Then later in fall, the stunning red berries develop and can be picked by hand. 



Ready-to-pick red cranberries

What makes the plant interesting is its ecology: the small cranberry can only survive under a very strict set of environmental factors.  First, it only grows in areas where the growing season extends from at least April to November; it requires sufficient time to flower and develop fruits, but then requires a long, cold period of dormancy in order to produce fruits the following season. 

Second, the plant needs a lot of sunlight, opting to grow in areas where there is little to no shade; bogs along a lake are a perfect location, receiving only shade as the sun rises and sets.  The fruits become plumper and greater in number with increased amounts of sunshine.

Third, the plants require very wet soil.  Bogs are ideal for this; the land is actually floating on water!  With so much saturation, the rate of decomposition is very slow and much peat is produced; this rich, brown mat provides excellent nutrients for the plant.  As well, the excess water helps avoid plant freezing and death during the winter.

Finally, the small cranberry is one of very few species adapted to very acidic growing conditions; any lime in the soil can actually damage the plant and stunt growth.  Their optimum pH ranges from 4.5 to 6, which is a typical pH of a sphagnum rich, nitrogen poor bog.




Plump and ready to be turned into cranberry
sauce!

Picking cranberries has become an annual tradition in our household, even though the picking really hurts the back.  It’s a great way to get outdoors, and turkey dinner always tastes that much better knowing all the hard work done to make the staple sauce.  Plus, cranberries are good for you; they can help treat and prevent urinary tract infections (from anthocyanin pigments), prevent kidney stones (from quinic, malic, and citric acids), fight free radicals in the body with their antioxidant properties, and are full of vitamins and minerals: Vitamin A, carotene, Vitamin C, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, sodium, iron, potassium, calcium, etc. 

So next Thanksgiving, I definitely recommend putting on your rubber boots, renting a boat, finding a cranberry bog, and trying it!

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2603/is_0003/ai_2603000307.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsHerbs/Cranberrych.html.

http://www.cranberries.org/cranberries/grow_intro.html

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Vaccinium+oxycoccos.