Thanksgiving has come and gone, but the
cranberries are still ripening in these closing days of
October. It looks like it is going to be a good year for
cranberries.- The little blossoms were abundant on the vines in
the middle of summer.- We watched with hope as the small round
berries formed in August.- All through September, we kept track
of the berries as they grew larger and begin to show hints of
red.-
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VIKI MATHER |
Kate started eating them at this point.- Kate
loves cranberries. -Now that the berries are almost completely
red, she's out there picking them and crunching away every
day.-
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Have you ever tried a fresh, raw cranberry?-
Yes, they are very sour.- That's why most of us cook them with
sugar before enjoying their bright fall flavour.
We have a huge cranberry patch in our
backyard.- Tucked between two rocky hills, this low area was a
peat bog for a few thousand years.- As the water level dropped,
a few shrubs began to grow.- Now there are even a couple of
tamarack trees coming up in the middle.- The cranberry vines
grow all around the edges and in the middle as well.
Cranberry vines are thin red threads that
grow up and over the sphagnum mosses.- They intertwine with
each other, sometimes forming a dense patch.- The leaves at
this time of year are also red - sort of a deep burgundy. The
leaves are often less than half an inch long, and very narrow.-
And of course, the ripe berries are cranberry red just about
now.
Wild cranberries love our northern wetlands
and can often be found in little nooks at lake's edge.- They
are low to the ground, and the berries are
identical to those you find in the grocery
stores.But with the Thanksgiving holiday past, you may wonder
what to do with a late harvest of
cranberries.- My favorite treat is to make a
cranberry pie.- I think it is even better than blueberry pie in
the peak of summer.
Prepare a standard piecrust and fill it with
fresh, raw cranberries.- Add one cup of sugar, a few dabs of
real butter, and a half-teaspoon of almond extract.- Put the
top crust on, cut a few holes in it to allow steam to escape,
then sprinkle it with a little sugar.- Bake at 325 F for about
45 minutes, or until the crust turns a golden brown.- Shut off
the heat, and leave the pie in the oven for another 15
minutes.- Cool and serve!- Yum!!!-
Viki Mather lives by a lake near Sudbury.
