CRANBERRY TURNS 150
FESTIVAL TURNS 5
BY CHRIS EDMONDS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It took 145 years, but the wait may well have been worth it. A century and a half after the first cranberries were harvested on Nantucket, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation hosted its first cranberry festival. This weekend, it holds its fifth annual fete, a fitting celebration for the island icon's sesquicentennial.

With the summer crowds gone and winter looming, the festival is a way for NCF to show its appreciation to the community and invite islanders to experience firsthand what the foundation does, according to NCF's director of development Gage Dobbins.

"It's more of an awareness event for the conservation foundation than a fundraiser," Dobbins said. "We do it so that people can know what we do [as a foundation]. Not only does the event coincide with the time of the harvest, but we also wanted to give something back to the community, to say thanks for supporting us over the years."

NCF's Cranberry Festival & Community Celebration will be held Saturday, Oct. 6 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Milestone Cranberry Bog. Activities include guided tours of the cranberry harvest, hay rides, cranberry product sampling, fresh cranberries, honey and wool for sale and scavenger hunts for children. The foundation's sheep will be present as well, as will be a wool-spinning demonstration. Lunch will be available for purchase.

Among its various projects, the foundation has kept alive a cranberry-growing tradition that stretches back to 1857 when the first cranberries were grown. The Milestone bog also has its share of history: until 1959, the 234 acres of bog along Milestone Road constituted the world's largest natural bog. It has since lost that title, but its legacy survives. NCF also owns the USDA-certified organic Windswept Cranberry Bog, which it purchased in 1980.

"Cranberries were one of the first crops cultivated on the island, and they've been here ever since," Dobbins said.

NCF had previously leased the Milestone bog to Northland Farms. When that agreement expired six years ago, NCF assumed control of cultivating and harvesting the little red fruits so emblematic of the island. After a year to acclimate to the harvest cycle, NCF decided to launch its first festival in 2003.

"We wanted to get a year under our belts," Dobbins said. "Then we decided to introduce the community to what we do and what the conservation foundation does for the island."

The cranberry harvest began about two weeks ago, "a little bit earlier than in the past," according to Dobbins, and will continue through the end of October. Which bog gets harvested when depends on the way water moves from bog to bog. The foundation hopes to be harvesting a bog close to the site of the festival this weekend.

Two kinds of cranberries make their home on Nantucket, the Early Black variety, harvested first in late September, and the Howes variety, harvested from early October until November. Differences in size, texture, taste and color mean that variety will be the order of the day on Saturday when islanders queue for cranberry goods and goodies.

Daily Breads, Something Natural, Sweet Inspirations and the culinary arts program at Nantucket High School will all offer samples of cranberry based foods, including breads, cookies and chocolate-covered berries. Cranberries, cranberry honey and wool from NCF's sheep will be on sale.

NCF's Middle Moors ranger and a number of interns will lead guided tours of the bog. The switch from self-guided strolls came from the public's inquisitiveness, according to Dobbins.

"After people had gone out and walked around and seen the harvest, they'd come back to our tent and have a lot of questions," Dobbins said. "[With the guided tours], people can find out more about the process of harvesting cranberries."

Guided tours will also be held on Sunday, Oct. 14 and Sunday, Oct. 21.

With crowds having grown from 500 people for year one to 1,200 a year ago, Dobbins expects islanders and visitors to come out in large numbers for this year's festival. Unlike years past, this cranberry fest falls on Columbus Day Weekend, which should boost numbers even higher.

"There are plenty of events going on as well," Dobbins said. "In addition to the cranberries, we have hayrides and sheep, or you can just grab lunch.

It's a beautiful setting." I