Ever wonder what is like to harvest cranberries?
Well, let's go find out!
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Now, if you've seen our showpiece episode on cranberries
- 3.2 million views as of today - but who's counting?
You'll know how cranberries grow, but I've always had one regret,
I didn't show you what is really like to harvest.
It looks like a blast and it is fun,
but I'm about to discover that is way harder than it looks.
It requires muscle and stamina...
and balance!
First, to get into this pair of waterproof waders.
Is this right? I feel like I'm inside out or something.
Anybody has a belt?
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With a confidence of a floppy sack of potatoes, I join my crew.
The harvester has already gone through the bog and loosen the berries.
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Our job is to gather them toward a tube
that will suck the berries up to a conveyor and into a waiting wagon.
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My new friend David and I quickly rake the berries away from the edge of the bog.
The idea is to push them toward the middle
and inside the yellow band that will corral the cranberries.
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This, I know, looks like no big deal,
but pushing a plastic rake through water it's an abdominal workout
and really a neck muscle workout that would be at home in a CrossFit gym.
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When we got all the berries corralled, it's time to wade into the bog.
Woohoo! Just jump right in, right?
Well, not quite.
There's a deep channel at the perimeter of each bog.
If you just step off the dam and into the bog,
you will go under water.
Instead, I have to use a very narrow ramp,
which would be a lot easier
if I wasn't in a pair of waders several sizes too big.
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Once in the bog, every step I take has to be slow and careful.
With the surface covered in berries I can't see my feet
or, the cranberry bushes I have to step over.
If my foot gets entangled,
there's nothing stopping me from going under.
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I take my position in the bog with a long wooden board,
we each take our turn slowly pushing the berries toward the suction pipe.
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Pushing the board is surprisingly difficult.
As the berries pile up in front of it, it gets heavier and harder to push,
and remember,
I'm trying to keep my balance
while walking over cranberry bushes I cannot see.
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Today I'm lucky, it's sunny and 75 °F.
Doing this in biting rain or at high winds would be utterly miserable,
and the water in the bog is cold, you can feel it through your waders.
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Most harvest work happen in the spring,
but gathering cranberries takes hours.
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The guys get silly and toss berries at each other to pass the time.
And well, I can't help myself,
I'm going to do the one thing I know you're all dying to do.
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So, that's how you harvest cranberries, but, how do they grow?
Hint: Not under water.
To find out, you have to watch our smash hit episode:
Cranberry - How Does It Grow?
Only on True Food TV!
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