Cranberries: A holiday must-have

One of the big debates around Thanksgiving and Christmas is about cranberry sauce. Do you like the homemade kind that your grandma used to make? Or do you like the kind from the can with the lines on it? I suppose it’s possible that some of you don’t have strong opinions about this, or perhaps you don’t like cranberry sauce at all, but cranberry sauce is a must for me at Thanksgiving and I’m partial to the canned kind.

Cranberries in a can or homemade from a bag? That's the question.

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As you might imagine, being one of the foods most associated with Thanksgiving, cranberry plants (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are native to much of the Northeastern United States and Canada. Their distribution range extends to the south into North Carolina, but most of the commercial cranberry production in the United States is in more Northern states, such as New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Wisconsin. These low-growing vines are more of a ground cover than a climber. They like especially acidic soils that are moist but well-drained. They are tolerant of periodic periods of flooding, which impacts the way they are managed in commercial production. Plants require full sun for best fruit yield, but are intolerant of excessive heat, which is why we rarely find them growing outside areas farther north.

In cranberry production culture, the vines are grown in fields with mounded berm borders, referred to as bogs. These fields are intentionally flooded with up to 18 inches of water during harvest time (August-November). The fruit is then knocked off of the vines by machine and floats to the surface of the water, at which time it can be gathered in nets for harvest.  You’ve probably seen the various Ocean Spray commercials featuring farmers standing in flooded cranberry bogs during harvest season in their hip waders.

Above: Harvesting cranberries that have floated to the surface. Right: Cranberry plant. Photo: R. Routledge, CC BY 3.0

While cranberries might not be common around here, they are close relatives of another fruit-producing plant that is a much more common site in backyard gardens and farms throughout the state. That plant is the blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium and Vaccinium corymbosum). Blueberries are a medium to large shrub, rather than a vine, of course, but there are similarities in the flower and fruit appearance, if not the overall form of the plant. Blueberries also like very acidic soils, as well as moist, well-drained soil with high organic matter. Though blueberries aren’t likely to appreciate flooding, some similarities exist in the machinery used to harvest fruit in commercial settings.

The form of the cranberry plant resembles that of the blueberry plant. There are also similarities in the flower and fruit appearance. Photo: J. Mayer, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cranberries are popular with many pollinators, including at least seven known species of native bees. Cranberries are also a favorite of honey bees, and many large commercial beekeepers will migrate their hives to the states where cranberries are grown to assure adequate pollination. Several species of butterflies are also attracted to the flowers. 

While Pitt County gardeners are not likely to have a bountiful harvest if they attempt to grow cranberries, they might be a fun experiment for some adventurous types. The flowers are pretty, as are the fruit if you are able to get any to reach maturity. If you can’t, don’t worry –there’s bound to be a can of cranberry sauce at the grocery store so that your holiday dinner isn’t cranberry-free.

Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center.  If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705.