New Jersey was the first to tame the wild blueberry
If you drive around New Jersey you’re bound to see a cranberry bog. Did you ever wonder if there were blueberry bogs? Well you’re not going to find any.
“Cranberries need bogs and have to be flooded to be harvested, whereas blueberries grow on a bush,” said Jeanne Streiter, a volunteer at this past Saturday’s Blueberry Festival in Browns Mills, a section of Pemberton Township in Burlington County.
“The soil here is sandy and acidic and is perfect for blueberries and cranberries,” said Streiter. She also noted blueberries are harvested in the summer while cranberries are gathered during the fall.
t was here at the historic Whitesbog Village that Elizabeth White, the daughter of the prominent cranberry farm owner cross-pollinated blueberries to create the first cultivated blueberry, somewhat sweeter than the wild blueberries.
New Jersey is the nation’s second largest producer of blueberries. In 2004, the New Jersey legislature named the blueberry the state’s official fruit.
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