Nantucket Conservation Foundation - Part 4

A visit to the Windswept Cranberry Bog is an educational one, no matter what the season. Owned by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, it is one of two working bogs on the island, both are among the largest in the world. The Windswept Bog was built in the early 1900's and purchased by the Foundation in 1980. It, together with the Milestone Cranberry Bog is leased to Northern Cranberries Inc of Wisconsin, a private cranberry grower. The Foundation receives a percentage of the company's harvest profits, which it uses to acquire additional open space on Nantucket. The 40-acre bog, together with 5 other properties in the immediate vicinity total over 241 acres of protected land.

No doubt the most exciting time of year is the cranberry harvest occurring from late September through October. First the bog is flooded with water from nearby Stump Pond. Then, a machine called a "water reel" uses horizontal paddles to detach the berries from the vines. Cranberries are naturally buoyant and float to the surface where they are corralled into one section and pumped out. The crop is washed and screened before being loaded onto huge trailers for the 30-mile ocean trip to the mainland. It is quite an amazing sight to watch one of the 40-foot long open trailers full of dark red berries drive off the ferry in Hyannis.

Flooding the bog serves a dual purpose as it also protects the vines from freezing temperatures and harsh winds in the winter. This is also the time of year when sand is applied to the cultivated bog, stimulating root growth and providing nutrients. The same irrigation system used to flood the bog in the fall is used to water the vines during dry weather periods. Spring is the time when the bog is weeded, fertilizer is applied during the summer and pruning occurs in the fall.

Bees play a crucial role in the growing process, as each and every cranberry blossom must be pollinated. Since the local bee population is not sufficient for the task, the cranberry growers import hundreds of beehives during June and July. The honey produced, actually a by-product of the process, is sold at several gift shops in town.

Grassy meadows, kept mowed by the Foundation, surround the bog and provide open working space for the many operations that occur throughout the year. Several species of flowering plants thrive in this area including milkweed, black-eyed Susan, thistle, clover and goldenrod. Attracted to the flowers' nectar are a variety of bees, moths and butterflies. Farther from the bog are shrub thickets containing bayberry, scrub oak, azalea and laurel.

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