Who Knew…

Photo: A.D. Makepeace

North America’s largest cranberry grower and a founder of the Ocean Spray co-op makes its home right here in the Southcoast region. The A.D. Makepeace Company was founded in 1854 by Abel Denison Makepeace and this fall will harvest approximately 1,700 acres of bog in Plymouth, Carver, and Wareham.

In response to a changing climate, the company has renovated or constructed hundreds of acres of new cranberry bogs over the past decade, planting new varieties that are drought-tolerant, and increasing winter preparations that make the crop healthier.

The company employs approximately 100 people, more than half of whom are involved with cranberry cultivation. This includes a maintenance crew who design and build the specialized machinery used to plant, maintain, and harvest cranberries. Because the cranberry industry is relatively small, no large equipment manufacturers have taken on the complicated task of building, for example, a pump truck that can pull berries off the bog, clean them, and convey them into a trailer for transport to the processing plant.

A.D. Makepeace
158 Tihonet Road

Wareham, MA 02571
(508) 295-1000
www.ADMakepeace.com

About Massachusetts Cranberries

Up to her knees in cranberries.

In 2020, the A.D. Makepeace Company partnered with the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association to transition its successful bog tour program to a larger industry-wide effort that is now managed by the Association. Those tours are now offered to charter tour companies and the public. Individual growers also offer tours at their farms. Visit the association’s website at cranberries.org to learn when and where tours are available. Massachusetts Cranberries and more than 275 cranberry growers in Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Nantucket are represented by the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association (CCCGA). Established in 1888, CCCGA is one of the country’s oldest farmers’ organizations. Today, this trade organization representing Massachusetts Cranberries has given growers both a single voice and collective strength in promoting the cranberry industry. Cranberries are the Commonwealth’s largest food crop, contributing over 60,000 acres of open space and generating more than 6,900 jobs to the local economy.

www.Cranberries.org

Dom Fernandes of Fresh Meadows Farm, Carver.

A Cranberry Solution: Fresh Meadow Farm in Carver, MA
by Christine Becker

Autumn mornings, crisp with an undulating flicker of buttery sunlight, beckon us into slower rhythms. While we savor having conversations and reading books over mugs of hot chocolate, the third-generation cranberry growers at Fresh Meadows Farm are preparing to inaugurate their labor-intensive harvest. Based in Carver, they grow heirloom varieties that are both organically certified and dry-harvested. Their frozen (available year-round) and fresh (available in October) berry options are the perfect solution for your autumn and winter-inspired recipes.

Fresh Meadows Farm
26A Walker Road

Carver, MA 02330
508-866-7136
www.FreshMeadowsCranberries.com