[Gardening] How hard is growing cranberries?

[Togath]

As a fan of gardening and a fan of berries... I got to wondering. How hard would it be to grow my own cranberries? I mean, getting seeds seems easy enough(if I can buy hundreds of cranberries for a few dollars, at least one ought to have viable seeds)... but I rarely hear of anyone doing it at home for some reason.
Are they that much harder to grow than blueberries or huckleberries(not quite random choices, given their relation to cranberries) and such? Or is it just that there isn't much demand?

[AMFV]

I think the need for like really marshy beds and particularly specific climates makes them more difficult for home growers, but I've never attempted them, so that's based on what I'm remembering, so take that for what it's worth.

[Togath]

Hmm... I do live in a fairly wet climate(Western Washington, around Everett currently).
Maybe I could simulate the marshiness by using extra bark in the soil to hang onto more moisture? Or was it sand that helps with that?
We also tend to have pretty mild winters, which might be a plus? Lowest I've ever seen here was about 20f at night in one of the colder parts of this half of the state(well, excluding the mountains, but mountains are mountains).

[Astral Avenger]

I pick wild ones in bog-y areas around the Boundary Waters in MN in late summer/early fall. I've seen them growing in floating bogs, which i think would imply they like more acidic soil. Cold winters shouldn't be a problem, if they can grow wild in northern MN, they can survive -40 winters.

A quick google search turned these up:
https://www.cranberries.org/how-cranberries-grow
http://www.gardensalive.com/product/can-you-grow-your-own-cranberries

[Togath]

I pick wild ones in bog-y areas around the Boundary Waters in MN in late summer/early fall. I've seen them growing in floating bogs, which i think would imply they like more acidic soil. Cold winters shouldn't be a problem, if they can grow wild in northern MN, they can survive -40 winters.

A quick google search turned these up:
https://www.cranberries.org/how-cranberries-grow
http://www.gardensalive.com/product/can-you-grow-your-own-cranberries

Looking at the links, it sounds like they can be potentially grown in a garden with a little preparation(luckily acidic soil also benefits other stuff I wanted to grow) provided I can get good irrigation going, which sounds useful in general. A
lso apparently Washington is one of the nation's main producers so... I guess they can indeed be grown here! Awesome~
I guess that just leaves determining the best time to plant them then. Might see if I can either preserve the seeds or figure out a portable way to grow them at the start, since I'm moving in a few months. (Within this area of the state, but still)

[AuthorGirl]

They grow wild around my place (northern BC, Canada) in the shadier and wetter regions beside the hayroad. Good yield every year. I suspect the conditions would be relatively easy to mimic, but not many people try because highbush cranberries are sour.

[Tvtyrant]

Supposedly the reason cranberries are grown at all is because they are ludicrously fecund, like rhubarb or zuccini, but also a narrow and acquired taste, like rhubarb and zuccini.

[Togath]

Supposedly the reason cranberries are grown at all is because they are ludicrously fecund, like rhubarb or zuccini, but also a narrow and acquired taste, like rhubarb and zuccini.

I actually rather like cranberries raw~
Then again, I also like rhubarb pie.
I've gotten in the habit of eating bags of cranberries like most folks eat chips(or sometimes mixing cranberries with spinach).

[shawnhcorey]

Commercial cranberries grow in marshes and bogs. But you can buy seeds for low-bush cranberries (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowbush_cranberry) and high-bush cranberries (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highbush_cranberry).

[Knaight]

Supposedly the reason cranberries are grown at all is because they are ludicrously fecund, like rhubarb or zuccini, but also a narrow and acquired taste, like rhubarb and zuccini.

Narrow and acquired taste, in this context, should be interpreted as "freakishly delicious". For all three of them, but especially cranberries and rhubarb.

[Tvtyrant]

Narrow and acquired taste, in this context, should be interpreted as "freakishly delicious". For all three of them, but especially cranberries and rhubarb.

I eay lots of rhubarb and zuccini myself, doesn't mean they aren't acquired tastes. Some people like caviar afterall.

[Knaight]

I eay lots of rhubarb and zuccini myself, doesn't mean they aren't acquired tastes. Some people like caviar afterall.

They don't seem particularly acquired. I liked them the first time I tried them as a small child, and that seems to be pretty common.

[Tvtyrant]

They don't seem particularly acquired. I liked them the first time I tried them as a small child, and that seems to be pretty common.

I have literally never met a child who likes rhubarb outside of sugar soaked pies.

[halfeye]

I have literally never met a child who likes rhubarb outside of sugar soaked pies.
When I was a kid, my parents grew rhubarb, and the little white bit at the end of the stalk was a sweet treat raw. I don't guarantee that it's always safe, I just remember it being offered and enjoyed.

[Tvtyrant]

When I was a kid, my parents grew rhubarb, and the little white bit at the end of the stalk was a sweet treat raw.

And now I have met one :)