Frequently Asked Questions...

Are all cranberries grown in water?

Do you have to replant cranberries every year?

What do they mean when they say white cranberries...I thought cranberries were red?

I didn't know cranberries were grown in Oregon...How long have they been growing them here?

Are all cranberries grown in water?

Contrary to popular opinion, cranberries are not grown in water.  The cranberry is grown just like any other plant.  Water is used for regular irrigation, and during frost and heat cycles.  In some areas where water-harvesting is done, the beds are flooded to aid in harvest procedures .

During water-harvesting the vines are covered with water, a machine is driven over the vines knocking the fruit off the vine.  The berries then float to the top, where they are corralled and pushed up an elevator to waiting trucks.  The water is then released to the next cranberry bed that will be harvested.  Cranberry Farmers recycle as much water as possible through their underground irrigation systems. 

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Do you have to replant cranberries every year?

No we do not have to replant cranberries every year.  Cranberries are a perennial plant.  The plant is a vine and once planted can last many years.

There are cranberry beds in Massachusetts that are over 100 years old and still providing fruit each year.  In Oregon there are a few beds that are over 50 years old.

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What do they mean when they say white cranberries...I thought cranberries were red?

A white and red cranberry are the same thing.  The color of the berry depends on when it is harvested.  Normally cranberries are harvested in October...by harvesting earlier you get a berry that has not yet turned red...thus the white color.

Due to the longer growing season in Oregon, most of Oregon's fruit is dark red.  Oregon berries are needed to put the "RED" in a bottle of juice!

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I didn't know that cranberries were grown in Oregon...How long have they been growing them here?

Commercially, cranberries have been grown in Oregon since 1885.  Charles Dexter McFarlin, from Massachusetts, planted the first commercial beds in Coos County and picked his first crop in 1889.

But cranberries were first discovered in Oregon during the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  They had stopped at Fort Clatsop and noticed the Indians using them with dried meat, as a dye and for medicinal purposes.

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