Cran Sauce

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The bogs on the S-curve out on route 58 in Carver look a pretty shade of maroon after being picked.

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I worked nine picking seasons for a Bog farmer who's now a Selectman. Not on these particular specimens, but very similar n close by. That was a tough, 7-days-per-week gig, but much was learnt.

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There was an old, large, cranberry shack with a patchworked roof located here a few years back. I drove by it daily when I worked in Plymouth. I'd always wanted to stop to take a pic of it. I was always running to get to the job on time, n so never got the wanted pic.

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It figures on the day I was heading that way n had some time last week, the shack was gone, demolished, n no longer an available pic subject.

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The three species of berries I worked with were fresh picked, not water-picked, n were sold to Ocean Spray in Middleborough as fresh fruit. Small "Early Blacks" ripen first toward the end of September. After about two weeks of picking n processing, it was time to start the mainstay "Howes" berries. These are the ones usually sold in bags at the market.

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Then at the end of November into the first few weeks of December (right about now) we'd start doing the huge "MacFarlan" variety. The white berries of this type from our bogs were shipped all the way to Europe where they're used to make candy.

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Believe it or not, sometimes I can be too quick n co-ordinated! I was responsible for a whole new processing machine design developement because the old method was too slow n boring for me...

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Getting the berries cleaned n into the third-barrel boxes suddenly became a stream-lined process requiring very few people n little time. The berries could be boxed n packed onto the trailer as fast as the bags were picked up n brought in on the Bog-Buggy.

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During my university degree earning years, I'd had to stop working that bog job. But Bog farming developement continued to evolve. Another buggy was developed so even people picking up the bags weren't needed, now down to one operator, besides the machine pickers. Today almost the entire job is automated, sadly.

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Most bogs are cheaper to water-pick these days, n have large-container loads carted off the bog by helicopter. These are the type which end up as canned cranberry sauce. I've been eating alot of it lately, but I'd prefer fresh fruit. Also, I should try to avoid the "high fructose corn syrup" in it.

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I enjoy foods containing cranberries, due to years of having an endless supply to experiment with. I really miss not having an oven for muffins, bread, cran-apple pie, n tarts. I think with raisins added as sweetener, cranberries are delish. These days, I've been missing the berries, themselves.

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Bogs are still part of my daily drive-by scenery...

different job, different day... same thoughts!