Fun cranberry facts
- Did you know that cranberries are one of the few fruits originally native to North America?
- Cranberries do not grow in water. They grow on vines, and air pockets inside fresh cranberries allow them to float on water.
- Cranberries may be dry or wet harvested in the fall. In the dry harvest method, a mechanical picker harvests the cranberries from the vines. With the wet harvest method, cranberry bogs are flooded with water, and water reels mix the water loosening the berries from the vines. The cranberries can then be gathered together, because they float on water.
- Only around 5% of cranberries are sold fresh while the other 95% are sold as cranberry sauce, juice, dried cranberries, and more.
- Around 400 million pounds of cranberries are consumed by Americans a year! Almost 80 million of these pounds are eaten during the week of Thanksgiving.
- There are numerous health benefits associated with eating cranberries. They contain antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fiber, including vitamin C. Cranberry consumption may also reduce the risk of developing urinary tract infections.
Learn more about cranberries and the bog when you walk along the 1/2 mile trail at Patriot Place. It's open from dawn to dusk, 7 days per week, at 1 Bass Pro Drive, Foxborough, MA.
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