Cranberry Preserves

What could be more from Cape Cod than cranberry jam. Cranberries are grown in bogs around the Cape. Cranberries ripen in late summer and are harvested in the early fall by one of two methods. The first is the wet method where the bogs are flooded and a machine is rolled through the bog loosening the berries which float to the surface forming wide swaths of bright red on the water.These berries must be immediately processed into juices or made into a wide variety of cranberry products since they can not be stored. The second method of harvesting is the dry method. Long ago workers walked through the fields with cranberry rakes scooping the berries from the vines. Today, machines accomplish the same task. The berries are then sorted by size and stored for later shipment to market. In the fall the Brewster Store carries dry harvested cranberries from a local bog less than a half mile from the store.