Let me just start by saying, THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!! If Bandon, OR weren’t a 4.5 hour drive away, I would definitely be making this an annual fall tradition.
One of my many bucket list items is to stand in a flooded cranberry bog during harvest season, just like they do on the Ocean Spray commercials. After a half dozen phone calls and even more emails, I learned that although Oregon is the fourth largest cranberry producing state (and Washington is number five) there are no cranberry farms in the Pacific Northwest that allow visitors to participate in the harvest. There is a museum in Washington that allow visitors to watch farmers work, but no one who allows guests to get in the water with the farmers.
LUCKILY, one of the farmers emailed me back and said, “I only do a dry harvest, but I know a farmer who does a wet harvest and I can put you in touch with him if you’d like.” Uhh… Yes, please!
I called Gale Turner, the farmer I as referred to, and asked him if I could visit his farm and help with the harvest for a few hours. He said, “Sure! Come on over whenever you want. Just so I understand… you want to drive all the way from Portland to Bandon to get in the water with the cranberries?” Yes. That is exactly what I want to do : ) When I asked about a good time to come by he said, “Any day you want. We harvest every day from now (September) until Thanksgiving, rain or shine.”
I mistook one of the numbers in the farm address Gale gave me so we (Lucas, Jessi, and me) drove around for a while unsure why the street numbers where so much higher than where we thought we should be. Thankfully we where on the correct street so weren’t too far off from our destination. We saw one farm with people working on it so we drove up to it and I ran out to talk to them. It is a tiny town so we figured (hoped) everyone knew everyone.
“Do you happen to know someone named Gale Turner?”
“That’s me!”
Gale not only gave us the opportunity to experience cranberry harvesting in a flooded bog, he walked us around the dry bogs and taught us about each step of the growing and harvesting process. We also toured his warehouse where the fresh (dry harvested) berries are sorted and put into crates before being sent off. He also sent us home with a 20 lbs crate of berries! Gale and his team are so kind and generous. I was worried we would be a nuisance to them but they said they loved having us there.
Thank you, Gale (and team) for making this such an unforgettable day!
The bog we helped harvest from is contracted with Ocean Spray so the truck we filled up was driven straight over to the Ocean Spray sorting facility once the bog was cleared. Before this, I had no idea that Ocean Spray was a co-op. Most of their farmers are located in Wisconsin, but they work with farmers all over the U.S. We may not have made it into an Ocean Spray commercial but we did help harvest cranberries for them!
Fun facts we learned:
- The berries float in water because they have four hollow chambers inside
- Oregon has the longest harvest season
- The majority of cranberries are turned into craisons or juice concentrate
- Cranberry demand is decreasing because cranberry juice has a ton of sugar in it and people are consuming less sugary drinks
- A lot of cranberry juice is dyed red with beet juice because it is made from white cranberries
- Products we saw in Bandon gift shops we were surprised existed: cranberry wine, cranberry mustard, cranberry smoothies
- The long black thing used to corral the floating berries is called a boom. Farmers used to use long wood boards to do the job until these were invented. They cost $10/foot and are 500 feet long ($5K!)
- Deers LOVE cranberries. Farmers put up 8ft fences and deer still get over them. It is a never-ending battle to protect the bogs from deer.
In an effort to express gratitude, I brought a container of homemade chocolate chip cookies to the farmers. Gale said we are welcome to come back but next time it’ll cost two dozen cookies instead of one : ) I’ll take that trade any day!
Only thing left in the water are loose leaves from the cranberry plants. We scooped out the majority of it. Farmer Gale said it makes excellent mulch.
Since Bandon is so far from home, we needed a place to stay overnight. Lucas and I almost exclusively use Airbnb for housing when we travel. It is nice to stay somewhere that feels like (or is) a home instead of using a hotel, and it is usually much cheaper! If you haven’t already, I highly recommend trying it out. Save $40 on your first trip with Airbnb with my link.
Gale said a family tradition he has with all of his grandkids who visit the farm is to take a photo in the back of the truck. “Would you like to try it?” “Sure!” We climbed a ladder and walked across the berries barefoot to sit on the ledge. It was interesting feeling berries between our toes but so fun to sit here with a truckload of berries.
Most of Gale’s family grew up in Bandon and still lives there. One of his sisters owns Bandon Sweets & Treats in old town Bandon so we went there and visited her too. Such a kind family!
Do you have any recipes of fun treats or savory food I can make with 20 lbs of cranberries??