Cranberries mean Thanksgiving to most people. But they’re really nutritious and a great year-round snack. Cranberries don’t grow in water, but sandy soil.
Fun Facts
- Cranberries are native to America. Early colonists harvested wild cranberries.
- Cranberries grow best in sandy marshes and bogs with acidic soil. The plants are low-lying vines. In the fall, farmers flood cranberry fields with water. Each cranberry has a pocket of air inside it. When the fields are flooded, the cranberries rise to the surface where they can easily be raked and harvested.
- Wisconsin grows more cranberries than any other state. Most cranberries are turned into juice or sauce. Dried cranberries are also popular.
- Cranberries are a healthy food. They’re known for treating bladder infections.
- Cranberries are high in vitamin C and they’re a good source of antioxidants.
- Cranberry plantings will continue growing for 100 years or more if given proper care.
- Native Americans added cranberries to pemmican. They also made a poultice from cranberries to draw poison from arrow wounds. The bright red color was used to make fabric dyes.
- Sailors took barrels of cranberries aboard ship on long voyages. Because cranberries are a good source of vitamin C, they could prevent scurvy.
- Cranberries are very tart. They are usually sweetened with sugar, maple syrup, or honey.
Vocabulary
- Bog: a sandy, damp area
- Pemmican: a high energy food made by combining dried, ground meat with melted fat and berries
- Scurvy: a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C
Questions and Answers
Question: Are cranberries good to eat raw?
Answer: Eating raw cranberries won’t hurt you, but they are quite tart. Try one and see if you like it.
Learn More
Visit a cranberry farm in Wisconsin.
