How are cranberries grown? 

Cranberries grow on low lying vines, some of which are more than 100 years old. The vines thrive in beds layered with sand, gravel and clay. These beds are commonly known as "bogs" or "marshes" and were originally created by glacial deposits.

Commercial bogs use a system of wetlands, uplands, ditches, ponds and other bodies of water that provide a natural habitat for a variety of plant and animal life.

The cranberry season begins in the Northern Hemisphere winter when growers flood the bogs and marshes with water that freezes and insulates the vines from frost. As the winter snow melts and spring arrives, the bogs and marshes are drained. Shortly after, blossoms begin to appear.

In mid-July, petals fall from the flowers leaving tiny green nodes which, after weeks of summer sun, become red, ripe cranberries.

Cranberries are harvested between mid-September and early November in two ways:

WET: Most cranberries are harvested using the "wet" method. Growers flood the bogs and marshes with water, then use harvesting machines that loosen the cranberries from the vine. With small air pockets in their centre, the cranberries float to the water's surface. Growers round up the berries onto conveyers that lift them from the flooded bog onto trucks and into processing plants. Approximately 95% of cranberries are produced by this method.

DRY: A small percentage of cranberries are dry harvested. This process involves mechanical picking machines with comb-like conveyer belts that collect the berries and carry them to attached bags. These bags are then emptied into bins and delivered to fresh fruit receiving stations where they are graded and screened based on their colour and ability to bounce (soft berries will not bounce). Dry harvested berries are sold as fresh fruit.

Wet harvested berries are generally processed into the cranberry products we see on our supermarket shelves, while dry harvested berries are most often sold as fresh fruit, although not in Australia.