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Phone: 715-423-2070 Website: www.wiscran.orgEmail: [email protected]
1. Cranberries are one ofNorth America’s nativefruits (concord grapesand blueberries are two others).
2. There are five states in the United States which arethe largest producers of cranberries —Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey,Oregon and Washington. Together theyharvest more than seven million barrels ofcranberries each fall. One barrel equals100 pounds.
3. The early settlers gave the cranberry its modernname. To them, the pinkcranberry blossomsresembled the heads ofcranes; therefore the word “craneberry,” latercontracted to “cranberry.”
4. Cranberry vines will bear fruit indefinitelywith proper care. Some cranberry marsheshave vines that are over 100 years old.
5. It takes three to five years for a new marsh to produce a crop.
6. Cranberry harvest begins mid-Septemberand extends for a few weeks. In the earlydays, the fruit was picked by hand and thewhole town turned out for the harvest.
7. For more than 100 years, the cranberrieswere combed from the vines by means of wooden hand rakes. Now growers flood their marshes forharvesting and hand rakes have been replaced by mechanical equipment. Some modern machines
have teeth that gently lift the berries fromthe vines. While other types of machinesagitate the water with enough force todislodge the berries.
8. Cranberries contain vitamin C. Long ago,sailors ate cranberries to prevent a diseasenamed scurvy.
9. Growers protect and manage over 180,000acres of wetlands in Wisconsin. Whilecranberries are actually grown on about21,000 of those acres, the remaining supportproperty provides valuable habitat whereplant and animal life flourish.
10. Cranberries have long been Wisconsin’s #1fruit crop. The cranberry growing traditionhas been passed down by Wisconsin familiessince the mid 1800s. In April of 2004, thecranberry was named Wisconsin’s officialstate fruit.
Cranberry Facts
Where To Go To SeeCranberry Marshes
Douglas
Burnett SawyerVilas
OneidaPrice
RuskLincoln
ClarkEau Claire
Portage
WoodJackson
Monroe
Wash-burn
Adams
Juneau
Iron
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WISCONSINCRANBERRYCOUNTIES
Phone: 715-423-2070 Website: www.wiscran.orgEmail: [email protected]
Phone: 715-423-2070 Website: www.wiscran.orgEmail: [email protected]
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How many of the words below can you find! Look across, down and diagonally to find these cranberry words.
Phone: 715-423-2070 Website: www.wiscran.orgEmail: [email protected]
Answers on page 7Phone: 715-423-2070 Website: www.wiscran.orgEmail: [email protected]
Phone: 715-423-2070 Website: www.wiscran.orgEmail: [email protected]
Phone: 715-423-2070 Website: www.wiscran.orgEmail: [email protected]
Publication made possible with fundingprovided by the Wisconsin Cranberry Board,Inc. and the Wisconsin State CranberryGrowers Association (WSCGA). Additionalinformation may be obtained from WSCGA,P.O. Box 365, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54495. Phone: 715-423-2070 Website: www.wiscran.orgEmail: [email protected]
