Cranberry Field Richmond

VKeith, on November 8, 2007, said:

Wonderful! Yum!

Nawitka, on November 8, 2007, said:

Thank you VKeith. It might be time for another visit to that area -- or maybe I'm too late (the usual story). It's always raining this time of year, so a nice sunny picture would be a treasure.

jayzoe, on June 9, 2008, said:

Nice. I have only seen them on T.V. Great job, did you get to try some?

Nawitka, on July 7, 2008, said:

Hi jayzoe, thanks for stopping by! No, I didn't get any; and I already had a bagful in the car which I had just bought at the roadside. Plus, the banks are very wet and squishy, and it was not at all clear to me if I fell into the pen whether I could climb out again. Judging from the guys in hip waders that I could see, the water is waist or chest-deep.

Tony Reid, on July 7, 2008, said:

This shot still appears as a blue dot in Google Earth

Tony

Nawitka, on July 7, 2008, said:

Thank you Tony Reid -- that is enormously kind of you to take the time to check it out. I apreciate it very much!

Tony Reid, on July 7, 2008, said:

No worries, Nakitka

Cheers, Tony

Shots for July Vote

Croquezz, on August 8, 2008, said:

Let me take you down ´Cause I´m going to Cranberry Fields Nothing is real And nothing to get hung about Cranberry Fields forever

Nawitka, on August 17, 2008, said:

Hi Croquezz, thank you very much for singing me that little tune! I don't think I'll ever hear that song again without thinking of you and this photo. Best regards from Vancouver -- Nawitka.

Hazel Coetzee, on March 10, 2009, said:

This is amazing Nawitka - we drink a lot of Cranberry juice and we have freeze-dried Cranberries and canned ones, etc. but I've never actually come across the cultivation side and I'm bug-eyed.

Do the plants just grow underwater?

Maybe a visit to Wikipedia might be a help, here, for this ignorant female in the southern hemisphere!!?? (o;

Cheers, Hazel, Cape Town

PreacherCasy, on May 11, 2009, said:

I had no idea whatsoever that hey farmed cranberries in Richmond. Cool!

Nawitka, on May 12, 2009, said:

Oh, yes PreacherCasy; more than half of all Canadian cranberries are grown right here. I'd say 90% but I don't want to be accussed of exaggerating :) Thanks for visiting!

Nawitka, on May 12, 2009, said:

Oh, sorry Hazel I did not answer your question! The plants grown on dry land, it is boggy but not underwater. Each field is surrounded by a dyke. When harvest time comes, the feilds are flooded and the bushes are beaten with a special machine. The beating frees the berries and they float, then they are harvested with a skimmer. There is an enormously complicated set of dykes, ditches and water gates all through this section of Richmond to control the flooding.

whoelius, on May 12, 2009, said:

That colour is amazing. Panoramio is great. The Google Earth satellite photo doesn't show these colours at all.

stoneboat, on May 12, 2009, said:

Thanks who!! The colour only last a few weeks. Kamaly has some even more amazing shots from her area last fall, she even rented a helicopter to take the shots! I couldn't get away during harvest time last year so this poor shot must stand another year.

"Almost all, 95%, of BC's cranberries are grown for the processing market. The rest are sold as fresh berries. Cranberries is BC's largest berry crop -- by both volume and value. BC produces about 17 million kilograms of cranberries which is valued at $25 million. These berries are grown by 50 family farm operations on 1150 producing hectares."

I found that info on the BC Agriculture website; they also explain how the berries are grown, harvested, processed and marketed.

Hazel Coetzee, on May 14, 2009, said:

Thanks so much for your very interesting and concise description of the harvesting, Nawitka. I love cranberries and we get them freeze-dried and in Juice form but I would love to see how they taste, freshly harvested. Very good, I'm sure!!

Thanks for sharing this lovely bright splash of colour with the rest of us.

Cheers, Hazel, Cape Town

Nawitka, on May 14, 2009, said:

You are welcome Hazel! The dried berries and the usual juice have a ton of sugar in them. The raw unsugared berries are just about inedible, much more sour than the sourest lemon. Even here we rarely get the fresh berries in the stores; they are usually frozen. Here is the Ocean Spray website for more info.

kamalyn, on May 14, 2009, said:

LOLOLOL Nawitka - Yup, once you become rich and famous from your photos (as n1w has been accusing me of, lol) you TOO will be able to rent a helicopter to get shots! Thanks for sending whoelius my way (but I'd like to clarify they were giving helicopter rides at the Cranberry Festival- $35 for about 10 minutes :D ) So funny - I just happened to come across this on JayZoe's page. I don't know why I didn't see it before - What COLOR! Are all those fields in the plan view cranberry bogs?

not1word, on May 14, 2009, said:

Boghorn Leghorn: I say, I say, lissen here, Son. You've got the wrong end of that camera pointed at the helicopter. Keep doin' it like that, and you'll never get a decent shot at all. You want to be takin' 'em like kamaly and Nawitka, Son.