What鈥檚 your favourite red berry? While some savour strawberries in June, and red raspberries are a summer delight, as the calendar turns to September, there鈥檚 no doubt the star of fall fields is the cranberry.
Cranberry farming reaches back as far as the 1940s in BC, with crops growing with the demand. Today, approximately 65 farmers are harvesting the tasty crop in British Columbia, mostly concentrated in the Lower Mainland area, with a few growers on Vancouver Island.
About 95 per cent of berries harvested in BC will find their way to Ocean Spray, a farmer-owned cooperative, where they鈥檒l be dried into sweet and delicious craisins, processed into juice or packaged for your grocery shelves to be used as a tart addition to muffins and scones, added to sweets or cooked into the perfect accompaniment to your holiday dinner!
Not only are cranberries a tasty addition to the kitchen, but ongoing studies continue to point to the berries鈥� powerful wellness-promoting phytochemicals that have been linked to prevention of certain infections and some age-related chronic diseases, for example.
鈥淎 lot of people enjoy using cranberries in their baking and for many people, craisins have replaced raisins as a favourite snack,鈥� says Jack DeWit, a longtime cranberry farmer and member of the
鈥淲hen I talk to the public and I say I grow cranberries, people often tell me how much they like the product.鈥�
A crop unlike any other
Cranberries are unique in a few ways. A successful season requires frost-free days before the early fall harvest, level land with appropriately acidic soil, and ample water for harvest, DeWit notes.
Why?
Unlike other berry crops, cranberries are harvested in water, with fields flooded and the cheery crimson berries beaten off the bush then gathered in booms.
This unique harvest is typically the focal point of the annual 鈥� scheduled to welcome some 60,000 people for its 25th anniversary this year, before COVID-19 put a damper on the celebrations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a unique crop and people love to see how it鈥檚 grown and harvested. They鈥檒l come out to spend a day at the farm and take photos with the flooded fields, surrounded by the berries,鈥� DeWit says.
While this year鈥檚 festivities are on hold, one lucky winner of the will enjoy a private farm tour for up to four family members this fall. Watch your Black Press Media community news website for details starting Sept. 1, and check out the hashtag #CranCulinaryBC!
And while eagerly await next year鈥檚 25th annual Fort Langley Cranberry Festival, you can enjoy BC cranberries any time of year! Visit for an array of delicious , family fun and a wealth of .
