http://www.oceanspray.com/Who-We-Are/Harvest/Cranberry.aspx
pictures
Fall is Harvest Season
Every autumn, (usually from mid-September until
around mid-November in North America and March 
through May in Chile), cranberries reach their 
peak of color and flavor and are ready for 
harvesting. That's when our growers harvest 
millions of pounds of cranberries. If you ask 
us, it's really quite beautiful.


What’s a Bog?
For starters, it’s where cranberries come from. 
But if you want to get technical, it’s an area 
of soft, marshy ground with acid peat soil, 
usually near wetlands, where the cranberries 
grow on long-running vines. You can find them 
all over North and South America, from 
Massachusetts to New Jersey, Oregon to 
Washington, Wisconsin, parts of British 
Columbia and Quebec, and Chile.


Wet Harvesting
A lot of people think that cranberries grow under water. Makes sense, since we usually see the berries floating on top of the water. But, what we’re seeing is actually the result of wet harvesting. The bog is flooded with up to 18 inches of water the night before the berries are to be harvested.  The growers then use water reels, nicknamed “eggbeaters,” to churn the water and loosen the cranberries from the vine. Each berry has a tiny pocket of air that allows it to float to the surface of the water. From there, they’re corralled together, loaded into trucks, and shipped off to become the Ocean Spray products that fill your grocery aisles.

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http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/botany/cranberry-bogs.htm
Everything you would ever want to know about cranberry harvesting

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http://joesretirementblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-cranberry-harvest-slocum-gibbs.html
A Cranberry Harvest, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA


Massachusetts is second only to Wisconsin as the 
largest state producer of cranberries in the United 
States. Here is how they get to your food plate or 
drinking glass........


Cranberries grow on vines in sandy soil.  They don't 
grow in water - but rather the bogs are flooded at 
harvest time to facilitate the ha?rvesting operation 
(it is possible to dry-harvest but is more labor-
intensive to do so).
 

After flooding the bog, the ripe berries are loosened 
from the vines with this mower-like machine.  The  
berries then float to the surface.


The floating loose berries are then corralled to 
prepare for collection and shipment.


The white pipe at the bottom of the picture sucks 
the berries out of the corral and up into the truck 
for loading.


The berries receive a final rinse and visual inspection to remove any unwanted leaf or twig debris.


Then, the berries are loaded into the truck for shipment to a final processing/packaging facility.

Cranberries are the official state berry of Massachusetts - bet you didn't know we even had a state berry? And cranberry juice is the official beverage - who'd have thought that up?


As the collection progresses, the loop is continuously tightened by the workers, steadily shrinking the circle until all the berries are loaded. (See the video clip at the end of this post to watch the berries being collected  into the hose).


And when the truck is full, the berries head down the road to become food or drink.

In the "gee whiz" department, did you know that John Lennon said "cranberry sauce" at the end of the song, "Strawberry Fields Forever?" 

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Teresa's text

Geography and Bog Method
Cranberries are a major commercial crop in the U.S. states 
of Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin, 
as well as in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, 
New Brunswick, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, 
Newfoundland and Quebec. Wisconsin is the leading producer 
of cranberries, with over half of U.S. production.
Massachusetts is the second largest U.S. producer. A very 
small production is found in southern Argentina and Chile, 
the Netherlands, and Eastern Europe.


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. Clean sand is hauled in to a depth of four to eight inches. The surface is laser leveled flat to provide even drainage. Beds are frequently drained with socked tile in addition to the perimeter ditch. In addition to making it possible to hold water, the dykes allow equipment to service the beds without driving on the vines. Irrigation equipment is installed in the bed to provide irrigation for vine growth and for spring and autumn frost protection.
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. Beds are flooded in the autumn to facilitate harvest and again during the winter to protect against low temperatures. In cold climates like Wisconsin, Maine, and eastern Canada, the winter flood typically freezes into ice, while in warmer climates the water remains liquid. When ice forms on the beds, trucks can be driven onto the ice to spread a thin layer of sand that helps to control pests and rejuvenate the vines. Sanding is done every three to five years.
Harvesting
Cranberries are harvested in the fall when the fruit takes on its distinctive deep red color. This is usually in September through the first part of November. 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. For the past 50 years, water reel type harvesters have been used. Harvested cranberries float in the water and can be corralled into a corner of the bed and conveyed or pumped from the bed. From the farm, cranberries are taken to receiving stations where they are cleaned, sorted, and stored prior to packaging or processing.
Although most cranberries are wet-picked as described above, 5-10% of the US crop is still dry-picked. This entails higher labor costs and lower yield, but dry-picked berries are less bruised and can be sold as fresh fruit instead of having to be immediately frozen or processed. Originally performed with two-handed comb scoops, dry picking is today accomplished by motorized, walk-behind harvesters which must be small enough to traverse beds without damaging the vines.
White cranberry juice is made from regular cranberries that have been harvested 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.
Cranberries for fresh market are stored in shallow bins or boxes with perforated or slatted bottoms, which deter decay by allowing air to circulate. Because harvest occurs in late autumn, cranberries for fresh market are frequently stored in thick walled barns without mechanical refrigeration. Temperatures are regulated by opening and closing vents in the barn as needed. Cranberries destined for processing are usually frozen in bulk containers shortly after arriving at a receiving station.

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http://www.cranberries.org/

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