Cranberry Farms, Myrtle Beach

Cranberries are those red berries you see at Thanksgiving time, usually made into cranberry sauce or cranberry juice. But where do these berries come from? In the United States, farmers in Wisconsin, Maine, and Oregon grow them.

Oregon Cranberries

Myrtle Beach has many cranberry farms. In fact, 95% of Oregon’s cranberries come from this area of Oregon. The berries grow on vines low to the ground in sandy bogs, and for most of the year, you don’t really know they’re even there except for the red fields. Then come mid-October through early December, water floods bog after bog, and the red berries float to the top where farmers corral them into a circle and then push them up a conveyer belt into the back of a truck. The truck takes them to a processing plant where another machine cleans them, others box them up and finally, they ship them off to join the other berries.

Cranberry Harvest at Everest Farms

On October 23, 2021, I was privileged to brave the rain to watch Wayne and Bonnie Everest and their son, Jonathan, of Everest Farms harvest one of their bogs. Here’s a pictorial view of cranberry harvest.

Overview of harvest

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A flooded bog
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Farmers have to remove the sprinkler system or the beater would rip them up.
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Wayne winds the bumpers to pull the berries in to the conveyer belt.
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First view of the berries and the equipment

Getting Close and wet

Bonnie rakes the berries to the conveyer belt.
Wayne’s dad created the water spraying system to guide the berries to the intake.
The conveyer belt takes the berries up to the truck.
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Wayne makes sure the berries don’t spill over the bumpers as he winds them in, while behind him, son Jonathan oversees the filling of the truck.
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Recycling water. Water is precious, and can be reused. The pump pulls the excess water and flows it back into the bog.
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Wayne and Bonnie rake the berries toward the conveyer belt.
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Bo, the dog, oversees the whole operation.
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Jonathan directs the berries into the truck.
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He uses the rake to bounce the flap.
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The berries fly out and into a pile in the truck.
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Wayne adjusts the bumpers while the truck takes the berries to the processing plant.
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The intake is silent while the truck is gone.
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Cranberries fall out on the ground. They’re nice and dark red to blend with the lighter berries on the East Coast.

Cranberry harvest is a long process, but most farms, like Everest Farms, are family run and harvest is a time for families and friends to get together and help each other out.

Sounds of Harvest

The process isn’t silent, even though it feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere.

The flap is designed to guide the berries into the truck and not fly all over the place.

See a Harvest in Person

If you’re ever in Bandon, Oregon, in the fall, you can tour Bowman Farms to see the harvest in process. Want to learn more about the cranberry harvest? You can read this article.

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