Gathering In The Red

Gathering in The Reds

The cranberries float to the top of the flooded field. Here, I am raking around the banks and trees gathering the berries with "boom boards" which you see me dragging behind me connected together in a train. We float these corralled berries over to one edge of a bank and push them up an elevator into a truck full of 10 totes,1100 pounds each. Then, off to the cleaning and processing plant for cranberry sauce. (Our berries are known for their color and jelling properties.)

On some days we fill 10 or 11 trucks. The water crew is mostly women. ( three of us, four if we can entice the occasional guest...). The guys run the elevator and truck the berries... This happens to be a very sunny, warm day early in the harvest. We have gathered and loaded berries in 60 mph gales and driving rains as well. Our outfits are just slightly different...

This area of Oregon is known for the deepest red coloring in the cranberry. As I watch them bob and float around me I realize that red comes in a zillion shades. How could it not be my favorite color...

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