Over on the eastern end of the U.P., near Brimley, Brenda Leigh has been busy picking wild cranberries and her hubby, Jim Solko was there with her to record the harvest in pictures. I have to admit, until a few years ago, I had no clue as to how or where cranberries grew and never would have imagined they grow right here in the U.P., either.

Looking at the third and fourth photos, you can see that Brenda has found a patch of some good sized cranberries there and just in time to make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving dinner, too. She also uses them in baking and has shared a Cranberry Pumpkin muffin recipe that is quite delicious.

I'm guessing that this cranberry bog is actually a patch of wild cranberries, which gets me to wondering if there is a difference in the taste of a wild cranberry, versus the ones harvested from an actual planted cranberry marsh. Feel free to chime in if you know!

Looks like a great way to spent a day!

Wild cranberries! Who knew? Who would have
guessed? As a kid, I picked wild bluebs and razzes
by the potful. I was just never in the UP in
November. Wouldn't homemade wild cranberry relish
make Thanksgiving special?

What's Thanksgiving without cranberries?

They used to be called "craneberries", as the stem has a crook in it like a crane's neck! True story!

Brenda was recording her harvest and cooking techniques back in 2012 as well!

I agree with Marge about the homemade cranberry relish!

They are also known as "Loganberries", and I believe
were brought here by the Swedes. (Or so sayeth the
guy selling the homemade cran jam at a craft sale).
The do grow wild in swampy areas and are ripe now!
AWESOME load Brenda! Wow!

The Shakey Lakes area near Stephenson is also a cranberry bog. Never been there myself, but heard of it from others who picked 'em.

Thank you Mary Drew for posting my photos. I so
enjoy reading the stories you write to accompany
all the great photos on Pasty. I did see on the
calendar that you also posted my cranberry juicing
days some years back. That is pretty neat. It is an
annual event for me. I never miss cranberry season.
I love the cranberries and they are much more
tastier than the commercially grown ones, as are
all U.P. berries. This year there is an awesome
crop.
I now know of five different places to pick them.
Originally for years I only knew of one. Donna the
loganberries are a different variety than the ones
here in the U.P. and I like them better as they are
much smaller and a different taste as well.
My friend and I picked forty gallons
of them in Alaska several years back. There are
none in the U.P. that I know of (logan variety). I
love juicing the berries as that is REAL cranberry
juice. I use honey to sweeten the juice.

I remember picking cranberries in a bog near our home in Grosse Pte Shores in Dollar Bay. They were very good. As I recall the USDA did not allow the State of Michigan to harvest commercially the cranberries. That was limited to Wisconsin and I believe New Jersey. I couldn't believe that. Because in Michigan there are several areas where commercial harvesting of cranberries is quite viable.

Was pretty sure Brenda was involved with at least
some of these pictures.