I’m such a huge fan of Ocean Spray and have always been fascinated by the cranberry bogs! You’ve seen the commercials, right? I’ve always wondered how those cranberry bogs exactly worked – how do those cranberries float?
On October 16th and 17th, there was a life-size cranberry bog in New York City’s Rockefeller Center! Measuring 1,500-square-feet, the bog contains 2,000 pounds of fresh, floating cranberries!
Watch below as third generation Ocean Spray cranberry grower ,Gary Garretson, shares secrets of the harvest – from how the bogs are flooded and picked to why cranberries float!
I loved learning that the bog in New York City is actually how a cranberry bog looks like! Gary shares what type of equipment they use to help with the harvest.
A few facts that Gary shared about his harvest:
– Some of his plants are over 100 years old!
– Next year’s cranberries are already on the bog!
– He was an early part of the Ocean Spray Cooperative.
– Cranberries actually float because of the natural air chamber inside, it’s actually hollow!
Fun Cranberry Secrets
- If you strung together all the cranberries produced in North America last year, they would stretch from Boston to Los Angeles more than 565 times.
- Cheryl Cook created the first Cosmopolitan, bringing the cranberry front and center as a versatile mixer.
- The key ingredient to making sure cranberry sauce gels is pectin. Cook the sauce for at least 10 minutes at a full boil to release it.
- Cranberries are rich in antioxidants and have more naturally occurring antioxidants per gram than other common fruit.
- You can taste the healthy goodness of the cranberry. PACs, or proanthocyanadins, are responsible for cranberry’s tart taste and give them a healthy edge.
- Eight ounces of cranberry juice cocktail, 1/2 cup of fresh cranberries and 1/4 cup of dried cranberries or cranberry sauce each provide the same urinary tract health bene
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Disclosure: I was compensated for this post but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
How cool! My girls love Ocean Spray Cranberry juices – I loved learning all those fun facts!
Interesting! We love Ocean Spray, especially the grapefruit juice. It’s so fresh and delicious!
When we were at Disney this fall there was an Ocean Spray Bog sample there for the Food and Wine Festival. It was cool to read about the process.
That is awesome! One of thei plants are here in Vegas!
Well that’s neat! I can’t imagine seeing a cranberry bog in the middle of New York City. What an educational and fun way to learn about cranberries!
Yay – there are cranberry bogs in Wisconsin, where I grew up… but I never got to actually see one in action. This was really neat to see and learn about. And the harvest photos are just gorgeous! All that beautiful color! Thanks so much for sharing!
I just bought a huge bag of cranberries! Can’t wait to make some goodies!!
Wow, very interesting! We have a HUGE cranberry festival a few hours from my house every year. I’ve never gone, but my mother-in-law has gone a few times (including this year) and always says how cool it is. I’d really like to go next year!
We love their fresh and canned cranberries. Fresh ones are a great add-in to muffins.