Berry plantations. How cranberries are grown in Russia

At the end of 2016, global cranberry consumption increased by 4% to 664 thousand tons. In 2007-2016 showed a generally growing trend with an average annual growth rate of +6.1%; after a slight failure in 2009-2010. The market volume recovered quickly and continued to grow steadily.

According to research from the website Ssia, in value terms the global cranberry market grew to $3,263 million in 2016. This figure reflects the total revenue of producers and exporters, and does not take into account retail markups, taxes, transport and other costs, which are then usually included in the consumer price.

Amount of apparent cranberry consumption

The largest volume of consumption in 2016 occurred in the USA (69% in volume terms) and Canada (19%). The remaining countries remain far behind the leaders in terms of consumption: Great Britain (4%), Turkey (2%), China (1%) and other countries with smaller shares in world consumption. The highest average annual growth rates of cranberry consumption from 2007 to 2016 were observed in China (+27.9%), the UK (+17.0%) and Canada (+15.6%).

Among the leading consuming countries, the highest per capita consumption is observed in Canada (3.59 kg/person in 2016) and the USA (1.42 kg/person), which is significantly higher than the global average per capita consumption of 0.09 kg/person . China had the lowest per capita consumption of 0.01 kg/person. – the colossal population determines low per capita consumption, but, on the other hand, this indicates low market saturation and the potential for its growth in the future.

Cranberry market volume, in physical terms, 2007-2016. (thousand tons)

Market structure: production, export, import, consumption

World cranberry production reached 684 thousand tons by 2016. Over the past six years, this figure has grown steadily. At the same time, from 2007 to 2010. Cranberry production volumes fluctuated noticeably, but subsequently began a steady increase until 2016.

The United States remains the world's leading cranberry-producing country. In 2016, production in the USA increased to 400 thousand tons, which is about 58% of world output. Other major producers were the following countries: Canada (24%), Chile (15%) and Turkey (2%).

At the same time, for the period from 2007 to 2016, the highest average annual growth rate of cranberry production in the world was observed in Chile (+18.8% on average per year). In other countries, positive production dynamics were also observed, but with more modest growth rates.

In 2016, the volume of world cranberry exports increased to 188 thousand tons, which is 9% more than a year earlier. From 2007 to 2016 global exports show steady growth.

In physical terms, the largest volume of supplies comes from exporters from Chile (101 thousand tons or 54% of total exports in 2016). Chile is followed by suppliers from Canada (34%), the Netherlands (6%), the USA (3%) and other countries. For the period from 2007 to 2016, the highest average annual growth rates of supplies among the leading countries were noted in Chile (+19.2% per year) and the Netherlands (+33.4% per year). Stable supplies from Canada come almost entirely from the United States, which is due to high demand in this country, geographic proximity and the relative cheapness of Canadian cranberries. At the same time, if Chile really becomes one of the world's largest producers and suppliers of cranberries, then the increase in supplies from the Netherlands is interconnected with the increase in imports - spacers from the Netherlands are most likely a re-export of products to other countries.

Chile (+30 p.p. from 2007 to 2016) strengthened its position in global cranberry exports in volume terms, while the shares of supplies from Canada (-18 p.p.) and the USA (-15 p.p.) decreased noticeably. The shares of other countries in the structure of world exports remained relatively unchanged over the period under review.

Cranberry exports, in volume terms, by country, 2016 (%, in volume terms)

The volume of world cranberry imports in 2016 amounted to 168 thousand tons. The dynamics of imports generally corresponded to the dynamics of exports. During the period from 2007 to 2016. The volume of cranberry imports in the world increased with an average annual growth rate of +11.1%.

The USA (63 thousand tons or 37% of total imports in physical terms in 2016) remains the main importer of cranberries in the world. Supplies to the USA increased with an average annual growth rate of about +4.2% for the period from 2007 to 2016. In addition to the USA, major importers of cranberries are Canada (17%), Great Britain (16%), the Netherlands (10%), China (5% ), Norway (2%) and Germany (1%).

While the share of imports to the United States in total world cranberry imports decreased by 29 percentage points. from 2007 to 2016, the shares of Canada (+3 p.p.), Great Britain (+6 p.p.), the Netherlands (+6 p.p.), China (+4 p.p.) and other countries are slightly grew up. This trend indicates that while previously the United States was the largest consumer of cranberries and imported part of the products to cover growing demand, in the last ten years the demand for cranberries has increased in other countries, which leads to the geographical diversification of the world cranberry trade.

Cranberry imports, in volume terms, by country, 2016 (%, in volume terms)

World cranberry market: Development forecast

In the near term, it is predicted that overall consumption rates in the cranberry market will continue to grow: the average annual growth rate will be +3.1% by 2025. There is a risk that production in the US and Canada will be limited to cranberry producers themselves due to rapidly falling domestic prices for the product, reducing overall global production. However, with the development of storage and production technologies, as well as growing demand from both developing countries in Asia, primarily China, and key cranberry consuming countries, the situation on the global cranberry market will remain favorable.

Our evergreen subshrub has a vast geography and natives from different parts of the Earth gave it different names.

The American Indians called the berry craneberry, based on the way cranberries look: the flowers of the plant vaguely resemble the neck and head of a crane.

They soaked dried meat in cranberry juice and obtained a tasty, healthy and high-calorie product (which also weighed little) called pemmican.

Benzoic acid contained in cranberries preserved meat, and Chingachgook took it with him on long hikes.

The British came up with the name “bearberry” for the berry because of the clubfoot’s predilection for ripe fruits.

The vitamins and organic acids contained in cranberries provide enormous benefits even to such large animals, not to mention people.

And our ancestors in Rus' called the berry northern, although where cranberries grow in Russia the climate is not always harsh.

But, of course, the harvests collected by the residents of Karelia or the Arkhangelsk region are not comparable to the production in the central part of Russia.

We sell and have compiled a customer map, which clearly shows where our customers mainly live.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Henry Hall from near Massachusetts noticed that cranberries sprinkled with sand bear fruit much better.

He took up a shovel, dragged sand under all the bushes in his area and received an unprecedented harvest. As a result, the Massachusetts cranberry thundered throughout America and marked the beginning of the mass cultivation of this berry.

Currently, hundreds of species of this berry have been bred in the United States; it is grown on their own plots as a family business and on an industrial scale.

Local experts have developed large-fruited cranberries with an air chamber, thanks to which they do not drown.

When the time comes to harvest, boiling water is pumped into the plantation, which tears the berries from the stem. They float up and are herded into special compartments, from where the cranberries are caught with industrial buckets.

In Russia, large-fruited cranberries became interested in the late 19th century in the St. Petersburg Imperial Botanical Garden. A group of scientists was engaged in research, but after the death of the director of the botanical garden E. Regel, funding stopped and the good initiative died out.

They returned to this only in the 70s of the last century. Plantations of large-fruited cranberries appeared in several Union republics at once.

This matter was approached most seriously in Belarus, and after the collapse of the USSR, it was this country that moved forward by leaps and bounds, continuing to create and equip new plantations with modern equipment.

In our country, large-fruited cranberries are grown only in the village of Miskovo near Kostroma and more than 100 tons are collected there per season.

Mostly we collect swamp cranberries.

How cranberries grow in a swamp

From May to June (depending on the geographical location), cranberries begin to bloom and everything around is transformed. The hummocks in the swamp first turn pale pink, and after three weeks they become red, almost purple.


Then the berries appear. At first they are green, then they turn white, and when ripe they acquire a rich red color. But, unlike flowers, you won’t immediately see the fruits: cranberries grow as if hiding under their own branches spreading along the ground.

Cranberry bushes, regardless of species, look like most members of the heath family: small plants that tend to form clumps.

The stems are thin, 15-30 cm long, with oblong dark green leaves. The leaves are up to 15 mm long and up to 6 mm wide. They grow in a spiral, located on the stem from bottom to top every few millimeters. The younger the plant, the closer the leaves are.

And the age of a cranberry is the same as that of a person – 100 years. And by the centennial anniversary, the distance between the leaves increases to 2-3 cm.

The bright red fruits of ripe cranberries are often covered with a waxy coating and are always elastic. It looks like this: a berry thrown on the table bounces off it like a ball.

Its diameter reaches 16 mm.

Photo of cranberries in the swamp:

In nature, cranberries grow not only in swamps, but also in forests, mostly coniferous. The places are necessarily damp: usually these are swampy lowlands, less often the shores of lakes. The mineral composition of the soil may not be particularly rich.

How cranberries grow in nature photo:

The shrub, like other heathers, feeds on a fungus connected to the root of the plant. The fungus plunges its threads into the soil, sucking out useful substances, and then transfers them to the roots of the bush.

When can you pick cranberries?

We must start with the fact that it is possible to collect white-sided cranberries, but not green ones. She still won't ripen.

Of course, it’s better to collect it when it’s already ripe. In our large country this happens in different ways, from mid-September to late autumn.

The temperature also varies every year, so the best option is to see if they sell it at the local market or ask fellow berry growers in

In the tundra, forest-tundra and forest belt of the European part of Russia and of course Estonia, you can find various forms of marsh cranberries, as well as small-fruited cranberries (Oxycoccus microcarpus).

However, we will not talk about them, but about large-fruited cranberries (Oxycoccus macrocarpus), to which gardeners have recently shown increased interest. And this is not surprising. The composition of its berries differs slightly from common cranberries: large-fruited cranberries are sweeter - they contain more water and less ascorbic acid (up to 40 mg in 100 g of berries, in marsh cranberries - up to 70 mg). It is more productive, and its berries are larger - up to 2.5 cm in diameter. It contains more pectin and carbohydrates.

Large-fruited cranberries have been cultivated in North America for more than 180 years. By the end of the 20th century, the area of ​​plantations in this country exceeded 15 thousand hectares, and the annual gross berry harvest reached 250 thousand tons. Today, at least 200 of its varieties are known, differing markedly in shape, color and size of the fruit.

There are 4 known types of cranberries that grow in wetlands throughout the forest and tundra zones of the northern hemisphere. These are low-growing shrubs with thin thread-like branches covered with small evergreen leaves. Cranberry shoots usually creep along the moss and are invisible from a distance. Therefore, during the ripening of the berries, it seems that the moss is strewn with red balls from nowhere.

Picking cranberries is a rather tedious task, and we can safely say that it is beyond the strength of any man. Only women, with their enormous reserves of patience, are able to do such painstaking work. However, in the Russian North, back in the old days, special combs were invented for collecting cranberries. With their help, the collector literally combs the swamp, taking away nature’s precious gifts.

But in the USA they did not wait for mercy from nature. For 2 centuries, Americans have been growing cranberries as a garden plant.

About 200 varieties of large-fruited cranberries have been created in America. It fully lives up to its name, because it has large, cherry-sized berries and produces quite good yields - about 11 tons per hectare.

Now in the United States, 11 thousand hectares of land are occupied by cranberries. They even developed a mechanized technology for growing this berry.

As one might expect, Canada ranks second in the world in cranberry production.
Russia, as always, is trailing behind, although recently in our country attempts have been made to grow cranberries on plantations. The first such plantations have already been established in Karelia and the Kostroma region.

It is an evergreen shrub with thin erect ends or creeping reddish stems more than 1 m long. Its oval or oblong leaves are larger than those of our marsh cranberry. The flowers are dark pink, drooping. The roots are superficial, thin, with mycorrhiza. Prefers acidic, very moist, peaty soils. Loves sunny places or partial shade.

In landscaping, large-fruited cranberry is used as a ground cover plant.

In some areas of the European part of the USSR, they tried to grow it back in the 80s of the last century. However, this experience was unsuccessful. According to experts, the main reasons were “shortcomings in the selection of areas and soil preparation, uncritical transfer of technological and agrotechnical methods for growing cranberries from America to Russian conditions, poor knowledge of the biology and ecology of American varieties, and lack of cultivation experience.”

The fruits of mid- and late-ripening varieties of American cranberries did not have time to ripen before the onset of autumn cold weather; the shoots were often damaged by spring and autumn frosts, as well as winter frosts (during periods of little snow).

Simultaneously with large-fruited ones, wild swamp cranberries were planted on separate plantations. This species turned out to be more frost-resistant, but its fruits were clearly inferior in size to American varieties, and accordingly the yield turned out to be low, which made its cultivation unprofitable.

In recent years, Russian breeders have accumulated some experience in breeding large-fruited cranberries. Therefore, today it can be found not only in the collections of scientific institutions, but also in private plots.

At the beginning of the 19th century, an enterprising farmer from Massachusetts named Henry Hall tried to grow cranberries on his plot. Not the swamp one that is well known to us, but the one that grows in North America. This is a large cranberry (Oxycoccus macrocarpus). As you can easily guess from the name, its berries are larger (up to 20–25 mm in diameter) and resemble cherries in appearance. It is more thermophilic and has vigorous growth. Over the course of a year, creeping shoots grow up to 150 cm, vertical ones - up to 18–20 cm and form a thick green carpet. Large-fruited cranberries bloom at the end of June - after the marsh cranberries bloom. The fruits ripen in September, and in October the plants begin their dormant period.

The attempt to domesticate large-fruited cranberries was a success. Gardeners looked for plants with the largest berries in the swamps, transferred them to their plots, and propagated them. By the middle of the 19th century, the area of ​​plantations in the state was already 1,500 hectares, and more than 130 varieties were bred. In 1936, even a special Cranberries magazine, “Cranberries,” began to be published in the United States. At the end of the last century, it was grown on 15 thousand hectares, and the yield increased tenfold. Now large-fruited cranberries are grown in Canada, New Zealand, and European countries.

In Russia, the founder of the Gardening Society, Eduard Regel, was the first to become interested in this plant - a small plantation was created in the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden. In the USSR, they tried to grow the crop in a number of areas, but were not successful, probably due to the incorrect selection of varieties.

In the USA this year we managed to harvest a fairly good cranberry harvest. Moreover, according to Wisconsin farmers, the harvest even exceeded average.

Wisconsin cranberry farms produce more than 50% of the world's supply of this tasty and healthy berry.

Cranberries are one of the products that the US exports to China. In 2010, China imported approximately 900 thousand kg. cranberries

Only here large-fruited cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are grown commercially on special plantations called CHEK. After the berries are ripe, the plantation is filled with water. And because Cranberries are lighter than water; special devices are used to knock the berries off the bushes and they float up. After this, all that remains is to collect a huge harvest from the surface of the water.

It's impossible not to love cranberries. After all, it is cranberries that improve immunity, strengthen teeth and contain large amounts of vitamin C. In folk medicine, cranberries are used as a bactericidal thirst-quencher, antipyretic and tonic, increasing mental and physical performance, increasing appetite and digestibility of food.

In the United States, the total number of plots occupied by cranberries reaches 160,000 acres.

This year's harvest is expected to be 4.3 million boxes. This should be enough for all Americans for Thanksgiving, because cranberry sauce is always served with turkey.

Cranberry juice is given to patients with sore throat, flu, and rheumatism. It is recommended to be used as a weak vasodilator for angina pectoris. In folk medicine, cranberries are prescribed for medicinal purposes for all diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract.

Cranberries are harvested in the fall and spring after the snow melts. Snow berries are sweeter and tastier than autumn berries, but contain less vitamin C. Due to the presence of a large amount of benzoic acid, cranberries can be stored for a long time and they will remain fresh. All useful substances are completely preserved in it for a year.

At home, unwashed and undamaged cranberries can be kept on the balcony or in the cellar until spring. While it is not cold, the berries are placed in water, and when frost sets in, they are frozen until they become hard and placed in a basket or barrel.

Cranberries have been cultivated in America since 1811. North America is the birthplace of three berries that have become common among Americans and have become an integral part of their culinary traditions. These are blueberries, Concord grapes and cranberries.

This video has little to do with the harvest, but the cranberry plantation is presented in full. Beauty!

In the list of the healthiest berries, cranberries deservedly occupy a leading position. And this is not without reason; the benefits of the fortified composition of this berry have been known to almost everyone since childhood.

Cranberries in sugar, cranberry juice, cranberry jam are the most popular and delicious delicacies made from this miracle berry. However, to get the beneficial properties of cranberries, they need to be harvested. But where do cranberries grow?

Cranberry habitat

Cranberry is a moisture-loving plant, so it grows mainly in places with high humidity: in swamps, in coniferous forests, along the shores of forest lakes.

The berry can rightfully be called a marsh berry, since cranberries are common where representatives of moss plants mainly grow - in wetlands. Cranberries spread across the surface of the moss.

Gathering to search for cranberries requires careful preparation and appropriate equipment, otherwise a trip to the swamps can result in health problems.

The inaccessibility of cranberries, associated with the place where they grow, makes the berry even more valuable.

To the question “where do cranberries grow”, the photo below will serve as the answer.

Continental distribution of cranberries

We continue to consider such an unusual berry as cranberry. Where does this valuable berry grow in terms of geographical location?

Cranberries are collected by residents of Europe, Asia and North America in swampy areas. In the northern part of these continents, the distribution of cranberries reaches almost the borders of the Arctic. There is especially a lot of it in the tundra zone.

Cranberries grow in the north of European countries: Italy and Spain.

The Far East and Siberia are the areas where cranberries grow in Russia. Moreover, their terrain is very favorable for the growth of berries in huge quantities.

But Russian cranberries are small in size. And the berries growing in North America and Canada are large, reaching 2 cm in diameter. This feature of the “American” cranberry allows it to be grown on a production scale.

Berry picking season

Cranberry fruits are collected three times a year:

1. September. During this season, cranberries are collected that are not yet ripe and hard. After harvesting, it will ripen perfectly at home.
2. November. Late autumn is considered the second season when cranberries can be harvested. The main condition is the onset of the first frost. At this time, cranberries are filled with vitamins and acquire a sour taste.
3. The third cranberry harvest season takes place in spring period, where cranberries grow in the forest, the snow has not yet completely melted. It is at this time that cranberries are considered finally ripe. It is enriched with beneficial properties and tastes sweet. But such cranberries cannot be stored for a long time, so they need to be consumed in a short time.

What kind of berry is cranberry?

We found out where such a valuable berry grows. All that remains is to figure out what she looks like.

How to recognize cranberries when picking them? To do this you need to know its morphological structure.

It is a creeping, bushy evergreen plant. The stems have a long (from 15 to 30 cm) thread-like structure.

The leaves are alternately arranged, up to 15 mm long and up to 6 mm wide. In appearance they resemble the shape of an egg. Their color is dark green above and ashen below, maintaining its constancy throughout the year.

During the flowering period, which lasts from May to June, in the European part of Russia the flowers themselves are purple.

The berries are rich red, oblong, oval in shape.

It is very difficult to confuse cranberries with other berries in their habitats, since there are few berries that grow in swampy areas.

What does the berry contain?

People call cranberries “a storehouse of vitamins.” And all because of its useful elements. For example, the content of ascorbic acid or vitamin C in cranberries is identical to that in citrus fruits.

The presence of vitamin C in the berry allows it to be preserved when soaked.

Cranberries are rich in a set of various microelements: calcium, iron, selenium, molybdenum, magnesium, phosphorus, iodine and many others. In addition to these elements, the sugar content is high: glucose, sucrose, fructose. But in terms of potassium content, cranberries rank first among other fruits and berries.

Beneficial features. Presence of contraindications

The enriched composition of cranberry berries gives it a number of useful properties:

The list of usefulness is impressive not only in the number of points, but also in its versatile impact. However, the use of cranberries may be contraindicated for a number of reasons:

• High levels of vitamin C can cause an allergic reaction.
• The content of various organic acids can become irritants to the gastrointestinal tract. Based on this, cranberries are contraindicated for people with gastritis and stomach ulcers.
• It is extremely undesirable to consume cranberries for diseases of the liver and genitourinary system.
• With fairly frequent consumption of cranberry juice, tooth enamel gradually begins to deteriorate.
• During the period of bearing a child, the consumption of cranberries should be limited, otherwise you can provoke a miscarriage.
• Frequent consumption of cranberries leads to an oversaturation of the body with vitamin K. This increases blood viscosity, which, in turn, leads to the formation of thrombosis.

Cloudberries and cranberries

Cranberries, valuable in all respects, are spreading, where another equally useful berry grows - cloudberries.

She is also partial to moisture-resistant natural environments. The places where cranberries and cloudberries grow are peat bogs and moss-covered forests.

Cloudberries are collected in central Russia, northern Europe, Sakhalin, and are rarely found in Belarus.

Conclusion

The benefits of cranberries have been proven over the years. There are not so many such fortified berries, which makes cranberries even more valuable.

However, picking berries can cause difficulties for people who are not aware of the areas where they live. Swampy places can be dangerous, so in order to “get” healthy berries on your own, you should be well prepared.

On the other hand, cranberries can be purchased at the store. Moreover, by its size you can find out where it was grown and collected. Small-fruited cranberries are “native Russian”; large fruits indicate that the berry was grown within North America and Canada.

Cranberries should be consumed, at least occasionally. It is best to do this in the spring, when the period of vitamin deficiency in the body is active. The berry will replenish the vitamins and macroelements lost during the winter.

We hope this article clarified what cranberries are, where they grow, and when to pick them.

Large cranberry (Oxycoccus macrocarpus) has recently attracted increased interest among professional manufacturers. And this is not surprising. The composition of its berries differs slightly from common cranberries: large-fruited cranberries are sweeter - they contain more water and less ascorbic acid (up to 40 mg in 100 g of berries, in marsh cranberries - up to 70 mg). It is more productive, and its berries are larger - up to 2.5 cm in diameter. It contains more pectin and carbohydrates.

Large-fruited cranberries have been cultivated in North America for over 200 years. By the end of the 20th century, the area of ​​plantations in the United States exceeded 15 thousand hectares, and the annual gross berry harvest reached 250 thousand tons. Today, more than 200 of its varieties are known, differing markedly in shape, color and size of the fruit.

There are 4 known species of common cranberries that grow in wetlands in the forest and tundra zones of the northern hemisphere. These are low-growing shrubs with thin thread-like branches covered with small evergreen leaves. Cranberry shoots usually creep along the moss and are invisible from a distance. Therefore, during the ripening of the berries, it seems that the moss is strewn with red balls from nowhere.

Picking cranberries is quite a painstaking task. However, back in the old days they came up with special combs for collecting cranberries. With their help, the collector literally combs the swamp, taking away nature’s precious gifts.

Americans have been growing cranberries as a garden plant for 2 centuries.

About 200 varieties of large-fruited cranberries have been created in America. It fully lives up to its name, because it has large, cherry-sized berries and produces quite good yields - about 11 tons per hectare.

Now in the United States, 11 thousand hectares of land are occupied by cranberries. They even developed a mechanized technology for growing this berry.

As one might expect, Canada ranks second in the world in cranberry production.
Recently, in our country, attempts have been made to grow cranberries on plantations.

It is an evergreen shrub with thin erect ends or creeping reddish stems more than 1 m long. Its oval or oblong leaves are larger than those of our marsh cranberry. The flowers are dark pink, drooping. The roots are superficial, thin, with mycorrhiza. Prefers acidic, very moist, peaty soils. Loves sunny places or partial shade.

In landscaping, large-fruited cranberry is used as a ground cover plant.

In some areas of the European part of the USSR, they tried to grow it back in the 80s of the last century. However, this experience was unsuccessful. According to experts, the main reasons were shortcomings in the selection of areas and soil preparation, uncritical transfer of technological and agrotechnical methods for growing cranberries from America to Russian conditions, poor knowledge of the biology and ecology of American varieties, and lack of cultivation experience.

The fruits of mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties of American cranberries did not have time to ripen before the onset of autumn cold weather; the shoots were often damaged by spring and autumn frosts, as well as winter frosts (during periods of little snow).

Simultaneously with large-fruited ones, wild swamp cranberries were planted on separate plantations. This species turned out to be more frost-resistant, but its fruits were clearly inferior in size to American varieties, and accordingly the yield turned out to be low, which made its cultivation unprofitable.

Cranberries have been cultivated in America since 1811. North America is the birthplace of three berries that have become common among Americans and have become an integral part of their culinary traditions. These are blueberries, Concord grapes and cranberries.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a Massachusetts farmer named Henry Hall tried to grow cranberries on his property. Not the swamp one that is well known to us, but the one that grows in North America. This is a large cranberry (Oxycoccus macrocarpus). As you can easily guess from the name, its berries are larger (up to 20–25 mm in diameter) and resemble cherries in appearance. It is more thermophilic and has vigorous growth. Over the course of a year, creeping shoots grow up to 150 cm, vertical ones - up to 18–20 cm and form a thick green carpet. Large-fruited cranberries bloom at the end of June - after the marsh cranberries bloom. The fruits ripen in September, and in October the plants begin their dormant period.

The attempt to domesticate large-fruited cranberries was a success. Gardeners looked for plants with the largest berries in the swamps, transferred them to their plots, and propagated them. By the middle of the 19th century, the area of ​​plantations in the state was already 1,500 hectares, and more than 130 varieties were bred. In 1936, even a special magazine “Cranberries” began to be published in the USA. At the end of the last century, it was grown on 15 thousand hectares, and the yield increased tenfold. Now large-fruited cranberries are grown in Canada, New Zealand, and European countries.

In the USA this year we managed to harvest a fairly good cranberry harvest. Moreover, according to Wisconsin farmers, the harvest even exceeded average.

Wisconsin cranberry farms produce more than 50% of the world's supply of this tasty and healthy berry.

Cranberries are one of the products that the US exports to China. In 2010, China imported approximately 900 thousand kg of cranberries.

Only here large-fruited cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon) are grown commercially on special plantations. After the berries are ripe, the plantation is filled with water. And since cranberries are lighter than water, special devices are used to knock the berries off the bushes and they float up. After this, all that remains is to collect a huge harvest from the surface of the water.

It's impossible not to love cranberries. After all, it is cranberries that improve immunity, strengthen teeth and contain large amounts of vitamin C. In folk medicine, cranberries are used as a bactericidal thirst-quencher, antipyretic and tonic, increasing mental and physical performance, increasing appetite and digestibility of food.

Cranberries are a major crop in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington, and some counties in Canada.

In the United States, the total number of plots occupied by cranberries reaches 160,000 acres.

Every year, producers harvest large crops of cranberries, which are enough for all Americans for Thanksgiving, because cranberry sauce is always served with turkey.

Cranberry juice is given to patients with sore throat, flu, and rheumatism. It is recommended to be used as a weak vasodilator for angina pectoris. In folk medicine, cranberries are prescribed for medicinal purposes for all diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract.

Below, in the photographs, you can see how cranberries are grown and harvested in the USA.

Watering a cranberry plantation in dry, hot weather

Cranberry bush in July

Cranberry bush in September

In autumn the plantations fill with water

Bushes are churned with a rotary cultivator

Cranberry fruits have air chambers, thanks to which the berry floats on the surface

A wide yellow sleeve filled with air is stretched along the shore, which collects the berries together. The workers, standing almost waist-deep in water, direct the berries onto the conveyor belt.

The conveyor loads the berries onto trucks, which then transport the cranberries to a receiving station or processing plant.

Loading time for one truck is about 10 minutes