OCEAN SPRAY CRANBERRY BOGS



 I think cranberry bogs are some of the most beautiful and fascinating things I have had a chance to visit.  There is an Ocean Spray bog about 20 minutes from my parent's lake house. 

 

On our trip up north we thought we would educate the kids a bit on what it takes to get that cranberry relish on the table each Thanksgiving holiday...

 

 First they need to flood the bog and run this agitating tractor through the flooded bog to shake the berry right off of the bushes....

 The berries then float to the surface... there were a few times we thought we might lose one of the kids to the bog:)  They could reach right down and take a sample... SOUR!!!:)

 

 This huge hose gathers up the berries and brings them down to one end of the bog... it just keeps reeling them in closer and closer...

 

 These men rake them right into the machine... It sort of sprays them off and sucks them down like a vacuum, or drain in a tub and into a pipe that takes them up and out to the truck...

(We laughed... I was just waiting for these guys to start talking just like the Ocean Spray guys in the those funny commercials:)  They didn't, but they sure were nice to answer all sorts of questions for us...

 

If you look close, you can see the berries falling from the pipe into the truck...

 

 

Hopie had the best seat in the house... This new friend Seth took a liking to her and was a huge help to me... carried her almost 2 1/2 miles while we hiked:)  It was like a mini vacation... He was so good with her... and she loved all the attention:)

 

 

What the bogs look like before they are flooded... you can see the bits of red all over the bushes:)

 

 

Our Levi enjoying the great fall weather at the cranberry bogs:)

Such a fun day to take in the beauty and creativity of our God to make such neat creations for us to eat and enjoy!