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Coquille Cranberries History |
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 Our bogs were planted in 1995 and certified in 1998 by Oregon Tilth, one of the most stringent organic certifiers in the world. Our bogs are located on the Southwest Oregon Coast just west of Coos Bay, Oregon. The bogs are on Coquille Tribal land near the mouth of the Coos River and about a mile and one half from the Pacific Ocean. Our bogs were farmed organically from the day of planting and not transitioned from "conventional" chemically farmed bogs. Our vines are Stevens Hybrid variety from Wisconsin. The Stevens variety is somewhat sweeter than other types of Cranberries and is larger in size. Because of our nearly ideal coastal growing climate, our fruit tends to have much more color than fruit grown in other parts of the U.S. and Canada and is typically a dark purple at full ripeness. |
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About Cranberries |
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 Cranberries are typically grown and farmed in beds averaging about 1.5
acres in size. Theses beds are engineered to be flat and are often terraced
to conserve water during flooding. They are called bogs because one
technique for picking them involves flooding the beds at harvest time and
allowing the fruit to float to the surface where it is gathered by various
techniques. Cranberry vines actually need to be dry and well drained during
the active growing season of the plant from about April until November on
the Oregon Coast. They typically grow best in soil that is comprised
mostly of sand. The vines resemble a thick ground cover and are about
8-10" deep. The vines begin growth in the spring and bloom in April and
May. Each vine puts out small buds on parts of the plant called uprights.
During the bloom the flowers are susceptible to frost. The vines are green
in the spring and as the fruit ripens in the fall and the vines go dormant
again, they turn a beautiful shade of magenta. |
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Harvesting Our Bogs |
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 Our cranberries have recently reached full maturity and production. While growing organically is more costly and labor intensive than conventional farming, our experience is that this method supports healthy vines and more flavorful fruit. The berries reach good size and a deep, dark color in early Fall. We carefully harvest our vine-ripened berries with hand operated machines for the Holiday season and the seasonal fresh fruit market. The berries are cleaned of vines and leaves and immediately refrigerated to preserve quality and freshness. Most of our berries are sold as fresh fruit; however, as our bogs have matured and production has increased, we also flood harvest some of our bogs for juice and other processed cranberry products. |
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