Ocean Spray

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, Ocean Spray is looking at developing a $90 million cranberry bog and processing facility in eastern New Brunswick. Environmental impact assessment pending. It will be set up on public lands. I can't think that there would be too many snags along the way, that region needs something positive for a change. Heck, maybe I can buy my dried cranberries from a New Brunswick source now. ;)

[LE-1]

I saw that in the Daily Gleaner too . Atleast the Irvings hasnt got their fingers in there yet eh .

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah I guess they didn't brace their feet over the parcel of land they propose this bog to be setup. Can't grow trees very well on bogs. :D

[stonebroke]

I heard that the EPA would not let anyone in this country convert a wet land to a cranberry bog.

Stonebroke

[SwampDonkey]

Up here they are barreny bogs, some bogs are not flooded bogs. I guess these will be flooded when the berries are ripe. I can't imagine a cranberry growing submerged, they are like blueberries and definitely not aquatic. There was a tiny bog on the farm, maybe an acre with pitcher plants and sundews, and the heaths. Along the perimeter, tamarack and black spruce. In the middle of the bog was a white pine growing quite well, a real surprise.

[beenthere]

I heard that the EPA would not let anyone in this country convert a wet land to a cranberry bog.

Stonebroke

Must be a State regulation, as plenty of cranberry bogs are being built here in WI.
Interesting thing is that they do not fall under the wetlands rules.

And for SD, I understand the flooding is for protecting the berries and plants from frost/freezing, as well as for harvesting.  And I've no idea what a "barreny bog" is.  : :  Can ya help us out? 

[thecfarm]

I have a bog that is about 500 feet wide by something,it's long.Not much gets of any size in there before it dies or just stays that size forever.it seems.But once in a while there will be a nice looking white pine towering up in all the under brush and tangled mess of cedar,and trees that have been dieing for 20 years and trees are falling over at all angles,growing nice and straight and pretty.My Father always thought that it was odd this could happen.

[SwampDonkey]

Barreny bog I guess. (it was spelled right the first time). Shouldn't need much explaining.  It's just an "unofficial"  term I've heard over the years. It is used more in relation to our now extirpated (disease) woodland caribou who roamed and fed in the barrens. These barrens where high plateau bogs where the surrounding forests burned quite frequently. But within the barrens there wasn't much for tree growth. For a lot of years after the caribou were displaced by the white tail, you could still follow old woodland caribou trails across these open bogs. The trails in places where like walking through 4 foot snow, the depressions were that deep in the moss and heath growth. I fell into an open hole on one of those trails that came out to a dead water and went to my arm pits and never touch solid ground.  You couldn't see your feet in all the heath brush. That's the hardest ground I ever walked. I'll take side hill any day over that stuff. :

I thought cranberries were quite frost hardy, plants and berry. I've eaten wild ones off the bushes in the mountain swamps in Northern BC (Coastal) in December. I didn't think they harvested them too late in the year to worry about freezing, but maybe. As far as I know, flooding is only used to harvest the berries. Maybe I'm wrong or missing something.

On another note, one other vaccinium species commonly found there were creeping snowberry. In my experience both bog cranberry and snow berry were never too abundant like blueberries on a  burnt forest would be. I often wondered if this was Ocean Sprays white cranberry source, or if it was a processing thing.

Ocean spray said the demand for cranberries out strips supply, so I imagine they are doing what ever it takes to find new acreage. Ocean spray, apparently is a cooperative. I never knew that.