A Different Kind of Cranberry

Where October is orange in my mind November is red, the color red of a cranberry.  Where October is round like a pumpkin November is round like a cranberry.

Cranberries were known as Craneberries by early European settlers in America due to the shape of their pink flowers which, look like the head of a crane. 

Some settlers called them Bearberries as bears were very often seen eating them. 

In Canada they may be referred to as Mossberries and the traditional English name for them is Fenberry from fen meaning marsh where they are found growing. The Algonquian people that are native to North America called the cranberries Sassamanash. They used the berries  as food, medicine and dye.

Cranberries ripen to a deep red when they are ready to be harvested which can occur starting in September through the fist weeks of November.

Cranberries in history include a very famous petticoat worn by a sassy Mary Ring of whom I am sure I am related as I would have also worn some in this color. She apparently died her petticoats and other undergarments with cranberries and they were a lovely bright shade of pink. Her husband realizing the popularity and potential value of this among the men and women auctioned off her cranberry petticoats.

This week please enjoy A Different Kind of Cranberry.