Fruit Warehouse

Fruit Warehouse | Cranberry ( Vaccinium Oxycoccus ) | Most cranberries are processed into products Such as juice, sauce, hours, and sweetened dried cranberries, with the remainder sold fresh to consumers. Cranberry sauce is regarded as an indispensable part of traditional American and Canadian Thanksgiving menus and European winter festivals some. Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus of the genus Vaccinium Oxycoccus.


Cranberries are related to bilberries, blueberries, and huckleberries, all in Vaccinium subgenus Vaccinium.  Some plants of the completely unrelated genus Viburnum are Sometimes inaccurately called "highbush cranberries" (Viburnum trilobum).


Wisconsin is the leading producer of cranberries, with over half of U.S. production. Historically, cranberry beds were constructed in wetlands. Today cranberry beds are constructed in upland areas with a shallow water table. The topsoil is scraped off to form dykes around the bed perimeter. Irrigation equipment is installed in the bed to Provide irrigation for vine growth and for spring and autumn frost protection


Cranberry vines are propagated by moving vines from an established bed. The vines are spread on the surface of the sand of the new bed and pushed into the sand with a blunt disk. A common misconception about cranberry production is that? The beds REMAIN flooded throughout the year. During the growing season cranberry beds are not flooded, but are irrigated regularly to maintain soil moisture. In cold climates like Wisconsin, Maine, and eastern Canada, the winter flood freezes into ice Typically, while in warmer climates the water Remains liquid.


Cranberries are harvested in the fall when the fruit takes on its distinctive deep red color. To harvest cranberries, the beds are flooded with six to eight inches of water above the vines. A harvester is driven through the beds to remove the fruit from the vines. Harvested cranberries float in the water and can be corralled into a corner of the bed and conveyed or Pumped from the bed. Although most cranberries are wet-picked as described above, 5-10% of the U.S. crop is still dry-picked. White cranberry juice is made from regular cranberries have been harvested That after the fruits are mature, but before They have Attained Their characteristic dark red color. Yields are lower on beds harvested early and the early flooding tends to damage vines, but not severely. Because harvest Occurs in late autumn, cranberries for fresh market are frequently stored in thick walled Barns without mechanical refrigeration.