Local Cranberry Farm

A friend of mine and her husband own a beautiful cranberry farm and she invited me to visit for a paint-out.   She noted that the cranberry harvest was in progress which was music to my ears.   Bogs are harvested one at a time and although I do not profess to know the exact sequence and process, I do know that it is a gorgeous scene once the berries are jarred loose from the plant and float to the top of the flooded bog.

Local Bog - On Site in Progress

Gentle sloping hillsides led to the expansive bogs at the bottom.   Apple trees, cold frames and a rustic fenced vegetable garden dotted the winding country path to the bogs. Some of the massive trees that dotted the property had to be a century or two old.  It was as if I was in a remote rural location instead of a half mile from the busy center of our large town.    

Local Bog

I set up on a slope next to a couple of apple trees to my left, and behind me was the vegetable gardens and domed coldframes which provided a wind block.    From here I had a view of the harvest in progress with two thrasher machines skipping across the watery bog in tandem.     I had hoped for the classic and iconic crimson sea of berries being corralled, but the pre-flood,  maroon bog was stunning as well.  The foliage in the distance and the apple tree next to me provided lots of sunlit color as well.

I was imagining that this 2014 farm scene was probably not much different than it was fifty years ago or more.  It was truly like stepping back in time and a beautiful hidden treasure.