We've got an article from Lake Magazine as the centerpiece to a feast of cranberry information including links, recipes and a big old cranberry photo!
Red Beauties in Lake Magazine's 2006 Holiday Issue is an engaging look at cranberry farming in Michigan. Although Michigan only has a small number of cranberry farms in the northeast, Upper Peninsula, and the southwestern corner of the state along Lake Michigan totaling about 250 acres - compared to more than 18,000 acres in nation-leading Wisconsin - the state does have all the requirements to grow a cranberry industry. The feature also provides a look at what's involved in cranberry farming and I have to say I learned a thing or two!
The Michigan State University Extensions Cranberry team has a page of information and links, including one to pictures of Cranberry Growth Stages (though they missed the stage where the berries grow ridges and into a can shape).
For more about the official fruit of Thanksgiving, you can go to the Cranberry Institute for industry facts and also information about the purported health benefits of cranberries. Closer to home, check out the Michigan Department of Agriculture's Cranberries in Michigan page (scroll to the bottom). In addition to US cranberry industry facts, requirements for growing cranberries in Michigan and a market and economic feasibility study, there's a page on Cooking with Michigan Cranberries that gives some nice recipes including the one below.
Baked Cranberry Acorn Squash
4 small acorn squash
1 cup chopped apple
1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine, meltedCut squash in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place cut side down in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Turn cut side up. Combine remaining ingredients; fill squash with fruit mixture. Continue baking for 25 minutes or till squash is tender. Makes 8 servings.
Finally, how about a trip to Centennial Cranberry Farm way up on Whitefish Point (near Paradise, MI).
3 Comments
Michigan Department of Agriculture's Cranberries in Michigan page has moved to:
http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,.....--,00.html
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
I've been asking my grocery store produce manager for Michigan fresh and dried cranberries and he tells me there wasn't much of a crop this year. Is this true? If not, how do you suggest I approach my store to pursue more Michigan products?
Mary P Eckart
I don't know about the harvest this year, but I think that one of the best ways to convince people to carry local products is to point out how the dollars for those stay in the community.
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