Welcome To Bandon Visitors Guide 2010

• Cranberries a busy industry

Published: Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 Cranberries a busy industry The cranberry gets its name from Dutch and German settlers, who called it "crane berry." When the vines bloom in the late spring and the flowers' light pink petals twist back, they have a resemblance to the head and bill of a crane. Over time, the name was shortened to cranberry.

Cranberries are grown in five states: Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. According to the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service, last year Oregon accounted for 2,600 acres of the 38,900 acres harvested throughout the entire United States. Despite the small crop, Oregon cranberries are prized for their deep red color and are often mixed with lighter colored berries from other states, such as Wisconsin and Massachusetts, to make juice or concentrate.

There are about 175 growers in Coos and Curry counties, representing 2,500-plus acres of berries. Each acre of cranberries yields roughly 175 barrels, and a barrel is about 100 pounds of berries. Coos and Curry counties produce about 99 percent of Oregon's crop, which represents 8 percent of the nation's total cranberry harvest.

Growing cranberries requires a delicate balance between the right soils, geology, climate and a sufficient water supply. Coos and Curry counties provide the right kind of environment. Bandon's cranberries are traditionally prized for their high sugar content, higher than any other region in the world, because the longer growing season allows for the fruit to fully ripen.

Cranberries are a perennial crop and grow on a low-lying vine. Harvested in the fall, each cranberry bed must have an ample water supply for irrigation and flooding. Growers flood the cranberry beds to harvest the berries. Flooding causes the vines bearing the fruit to rise, so a harvester can move over the water and loosen the fruit from the vines. The brilliant red berries float tightly together, resembling a plush red carpet. The floating berries are corralled with wooden or inflatable booms, then pumped or pushed into waiting trucks.

The Oregon berry is sold as fresh fruit, processed into one of the popular juice or sauce products that have evolved in recent years, or sold for concentration.

The cranberry is one of only three major fruits native to North America. Others include the blueberry and Concord grape.

The Bandon Historical Society Museum, located at U.S. Highway 101 and Fillmore, has a display on the history of the cranberry culture in Bandon, with vintage equipment and many old photographs.

Each fall, Bandon celebrates its annual Cranberry Festival to honor the industry that has provided a livelihood for hundreds of residents for many years. This year's festival is Sept. 12-14..



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