Cranberry bogs are visible from hwy 101 near Bandon, the "Cranberry Capitol of Oregon". We stopped at one bog and were lucky to be able to talk with the farmer who was starting the harvest:He explained that Oregon is second to Wisconsin for cranberry production. His crop was ready for harvest...first step was to flood the field with water. The machine he was steering through the field was cutting the berries from the plants. Once cut, the berries float on top of the water. A rope boom corrals the berries so they can be pulled to one end of the bog. Loading into trucks involves an elevator-type machine. Trucks carry the berries to a sorting facility: sorted by color, size, etc. From there they are processed into a final product such as juice, raw whole berries, or dried fruits.
Plants are left in the bog to regrow and produce more berries next season...
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