Pine Barrens Cranberry

Vaccinium macrocarpon Origin: Burlington County, New Jersey Improvement status: Cultivated material Seeds per packet: ~20 BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED Life cycle: Perennial Cranberries have grown in the New Jersey Pine Barrens since long before humans arrived to appreciate them. Native Americans harvested them by hand and dried them for future use. European settlers fashioned wooden scoops to harvest the berries. Since the 1960s, most berries have been "wet harvested" by flooding cranberry fields, knocking off berries with special machinery, then harvesting the berries that float to the surface. The berries have played a critical role in the culture of the Pine Barrens. Elizabeth Coleman White domesticated the blueberry at her family's cranberry farm in Whitesbog, NJ. Elizabeth Lee invented and popularized "Cranberry Sauce" from her farm in New Egypt, NJ, and was one of three founding members of the Ocean Spray cooperative.For those who have never been to the Pine Ba