The Garden Bug: Cranberry bogs

By Brenda Weaver

Receding glaciers carved out cavities in the landscape. Some evolved into wet, muddy "bogs." Those with more sand and clay formed the perfect environment for cranberry plants to grow in abundance.

North American tribes harvested the sasumuneash, as they called the berries, for thousands of years.

The cultivation of the cranberry by European settlers began around the early 1800s. Harvesting the berries finishes in October (by November the bogs become dormant) and the fruit is often used for holiday meals.