I am interested in growing cranberries for our own use in Michigan and am wondering if the high-bush cranberries are the same sort of berry as the regular cranberry and can be used the same? Has anyone successfully grown them?

-- Diane Green (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 26, 2000

Answers

Hi Diane, we have forests full of wild high-bush cranberries and this year was a great year for them. Wild Blueberries also. High-Bush Cranberries are not the same as regular cranberries. They make excellent jelly tho, crystal red in the jars, so good. When you open a cranberry with your finger nail, it is solid and almost white inside. A high-bush cranberry is clear liquid inside. They grow in groups of 5-7-9 close together, when picking you can grab that many at once, and the bushes are 2-4 ft. tall with pretty red, green, orange leaves early in the fall. We pick in Sept. Good luck growing them.

-- Maureen Stevenson (maureen@mtaonline.net), November 27, 2000.

Thankyou for your rapid response!! What I was hoping for was that they would have the same medical properties that the regular cranberry has. They have now proven that it (cranberry juice) really does work on combating bladder infection but also the stomach ulcer caused by bacteria (the kind my family has a genetic tendency toward). Since I started drinking it my stomach problems have ceased. Tightwad that I am, I would like to produce my own juice. thanks - diane

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 27, 2000.

I haven't used my highbush cranberries, despite the abundant fruit this year -- the birds won't touch them either, way too astringent. They clean out the Canadian cherries, the honeysuckle berries, the crab apples, the mountain ash, and even the berries on the Virginia Creeper, but they won't touch those even in winter.

One of my holistic newsletters just reported that you can get the same anti-bacterial properties of the cranberries from blueberries. They recommended a cup a day for this purpose. I would think that frozen blueberries would be pretty palatable to most folks, and you're in a good area for them if you want to supplement your diet.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), November 27, 2000.

I have high bush cranberry thinking that they would be good for jelly, after tasting the berry I thought there would be no way to make something edible from them. I would love the jelly recipe. Always willing to try something new, made beet jelly this year- that was a dud. Gdog in WI

-- Gdog in WI (windridg@chorus.net), November 28, 2000.

Julie: Thanks for the blueberry info. I didn't know that. We have many blueberry farms arounds here and we grow a few of our own. diane

-- Diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 28, 2000.

High bush cranberries are actually a viburnum. I don't know the medicinal qualities, but the pectin content is highest in September. I planted some but have harvested what I have in the freezer from the neighbor. I haven't made jelly yet, but I have been told it is close to red currant jelly. I couldn't grow currants because I have 10+ acres of White Pines and it would kill them....

enjoy the High Bush Cranberries!

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), November 29, 2000.

We planted 2 Highbush ranberries last year. The reason being that we read in Birds and Blooms Mag. that this lady had great luck in attracting birds to their fruit. They're growing very nicely, however one is much taller than the other and they didn't bloom this year so naturally--no berries. She had also said that she made jell from the berries. Sounded good to me. Feed the birds and me. These that we planted are supposed to reach a height of 14 to 15 ft. Quite a difference between what we've been told and what I'm reading here. Hubby and I make a batch of cranberry relish every Thanksgiving and usually have plenty left over for nibbling afterwards. Lots of the family say they can get along without it but our newest son-in-law is in agreement with us as to this tasty treat. I'm anxious for the High Bush to produce as I want to try this recipe with them: One bag cranberries, 4 apples, 4 oranges. I used to use the hand cranked food grinder but in recent years have used the new fangled food processor. Using the big chopping blade, we chop the berries first, put them in a good sized bowl, core the apples but do not peel, chop the apples, add them to the berries, then chop the oranges add them to the apple berry mixture. Stir and stir, to mix well, then measure the amount of fruit. For every 2 cups of fruit you will use 1 cup of suugar. Generally we end up with 8 cups of fruit so I stir in 4 cups of sugar. This is best made at least 3 days before Thanksgiving . It's wonderful with any type of meat but I really enjoy it with turkey, chicken and pork. And the longer it sets the better it gets. Good luck with your High Bush cranberries.

-- Clare Baldwin (clare_baldwin@hotmail.com), November 30, 2000.

What we call highbush cranberries grow up to 20 feet high, have three-lobed leaves that resemble an underachieving maple leaf and have clusters of berries in September. The berries are red like commercial cranberries but have one large seed in them instead of the many tiny ones. You have to cook and then strain them or run them through a mill to get the pulp. I made sauce that tasted like commercial canned sauce only fresher tasting. I had no recipe, just cooked, milled, and added sugar and a bit of lemon juice to taste. The bushes grow wild here too, and prefer to grow next to a ditch or around the edges of a marsh although I have seen some growing in yards also. I have no idea what the medicinal properties might be. Peg

-- Peg (NW WI) (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), December 01, 2000.