The cranberry harvest takes place once a year, from mid-September through early November. There are two methods of harvesting cranberries: dry harvesting and wet harvesting.

At the A.D. Makepeace Company, all our berries are wet-harvested. With nearly 2,000 acres of bog to harvest, we've found this is the most efficient way to harvest the crop.

Cranberries have pockets of air inside the fruit. Because of this, cranberries float in water, and thus, the bogs can be flooded to aid in removal of fruit from the vines. Water reels, nicknamed “egg-beaters” are used to stir up the water in the bogs. By this action, cranberries are dislodged from the vines and float to the surface of the water. Wooden or plastic “booms” are used to round up the berries, which are then lifted by conveyor or pumped into a truck to take them to the receiving station for cleaning. More than 90% of the crop is wet harvested. Wet harvested cranberries are used for juices, sauces, sweetened dried cranberries, ingredients in other processed foods or in nutraceutical products.

In other business...
At this time of year, we're also engaged in frost protection. Water is applied through the sprinkler system to protect the ripening cranberries from freezing. This can occur anytime the temperature drops below damaging levels, usually between late evening and early morning hours.

Visit the official page of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association for more information about the cranberry harvest and what goes on during this time of year.