Cranberry growers in Massachusetts harvest crops in the fall leading up to Thanksgiving

ROCHESTER, Mass. — Cranberries are synonymous with Thanksgiving, and Massachusetts produces the second most cranberries of any US state behind only Wisconsin.

In Rochester, Massachusetts, just eight miles north of New Bedford at the Hartley Family Farm, they offered public tours of their cranberry bog for the first time this fall. The farm’s owners say it’s a way to add a new income stream while creating an informative, interactive experience for visitors.

“This is pure joy for people to come and experience this,” said Scott Hartley of Hartley Family Farm.

Glenn Cagle, a visitor from Houston, Texas, expressed his surprise at the complexity of cranberry breeding. “I think it’s great,” he said. “I didn’t know there was so much involvement in growing and picking. I didn’t even know there was a difference between dry and wet harvesting.”

The farm showcases both wet and dry harvesting methods. Wet harvesting involves picking cranberries from the bog to be used for cranberry sauce or juice. Dry harvesting, on the other hand, allows cranberries to be bagged and sold in the produce section.

“Dry harvesting, which I’m most involved in, is really labor intensive,” Hartley said. “It’s old fashioned, it goes, puts berries in a huge burlap sack and pulls the burlap sack off the bog.”

The cranberry harvest at Hartley Family Farm begins in October and continues into mid-November. Cold nights are essential for the ripening of the berries. “If it’s cold, the berries turn redder faster,” Harley said.

However, temperatures that fall too low can threaten the crop. “In the fall, if it gets too cold, we can lose berries, we can lose the whole crop, so we have to be very careful,” Hartley said.

An irrigation system is automatically activated to protect the berries if the temperature drops below 24 degrees, which is considered the danger zone for cranberries. “The watering will freeze and insulate the berries,” he explained.

Cranberry growers like the Hartleys continue to battle the elements to ensure this Thanksgiving staple remains on tables across the country.