Holy Red Cranberries, Batman!!

For some reason Michael and I were talking about cranberries this morning.  I believe I had mentioned that I wanted to go see one of the cranberry bogs here on the island -- something I had never seen before -- and then he mentioned that Nantucket has an annual cranberry festival.  So, I jumped online and...lo and behold...today was Cranberry Fest 2009!

We jumped in the car and headed out to Milestone Cranberry Bog, 193 acres of currently cultivated cranberry bog.  Prior to 1959, this bog was 234 acres, making it the largest contiguous natural cranberry bog in the world.  Since that time the bog has been divided up to make it more water-efficient.  Together, the Milestone Cranberry Bog and the other commercial bogs on Nantucket produce 2 million pounds of cranberries each year.

Cranberry Fest 2009 featured a cranberry harvest, bog tours, hay rides, sheep shearing demonstrations, live music, kid's events, food, fresh berries and other cranberry products, although we missed much of that since we were so late in arriving.

We saw a woman spinning freshly sheared wool into yarn:

A woman weaving beautiful rugs:

And an old-fashioned cranberry separator:

Fun facts about cranberries:

1. John Webb, one of the first growers, was the first person to notice that good cranberries bounce.   Because he had a wooden leg, John couldn't carry his cranberries down the stairs, so he dropped them instead.  He soon noticed that the firmest berries bounced to the bottom but the rotten ones stayed on the steps.  This discovery eventually led to the cranberry separator pictured above.
2. Small pockets of air inside the berry cause the cranberry to bounce.  Air also causes the berries to float in water. 
3. The cranberry is one of only three fruits native to North America.  The other two are the Concord grape and the blueberry.
4. The cranberry was so named because its pink blossoms resemble the head of a crane ("Craneberry" as it was originally called).

I did get to taste a few things.  Walking by one booth, I spied a yummy looking cracker slathered with cranberry jam.  I quickly grabbed one, shoved the whole thing in my mouth....and it nearly burned my tongue off!  Turns out it was curry cranberry jam.  Who would have thought?  I guess it tasted good...just eat it in small portions.