American Cranberry

American Cranberry. . , "The Indians and English [use] them much, boiling them with sugar for sauce to eat with their meat, and it is a delicate sauce, especially for roasted mutton." , New England's Rarieties Discovered by John Josselyn, 1672., This tart red berry, native to Cape Cod, has thrived here for thousands of years and has played an important rote in the history of this region. The native Wampanoag people called ibimi, meaning bitter berry, and used it to make pemmican cakes, sauces, and healing poultices. In 1620 they taught the Pilgrims how to take advantage of this healthy resource., Cranberry Industry , By the mid 1800s, Cape Cod's fishing industry was in decline. As a lucrative alternative to seafaring, Cape Codders began a new industry cultivating cranberries as a cash crop. Falling sugar prices contributed to new demand for the berries and commercial bogs were carved from wetlands all over the Cape, But today, small begs are disappearing from the Cape Cod landscape, going the way of family farms across America., ( photo captions ) , , The white flower with its long, red stamen reminded colonists of the head of a crane, hence the name "craneberry," which was shortened to cranberry., , Inspect the vines below you for flowers early in summer and berries in fall and winter., , Cranberries were transported around the world in the hulls of ships. They kept well and provided the crews with a source of Vitamin C which prevents scurvy.