34th in an occasional series

If the robust cranberries Steve Gray grows in his Long Beach bogs survive the desires of weevils, weeds, girdlers and the seven local deer that live nearby, they won't make it past the juicer or Thanksgiving recipes.

He grows hybrid berries from the best Oregon stock in hand-weeded acreage.

"Mine are clean bogs, a bog in demand. Not a lot of weed seeds" in there.

Cranberries are one of the few fruits native to North America, and in the early 1600s Pilgrims were taught by Indian tribes how to use them as food, dyes and teas.

New England tribes called them "sassamanesh" or "ibimi." German and Dutch settlers called them "crane berries."

The fruit quickly became known for medicinal value.

The berries grow on vines on the ground and are hollow. At harvest time, the bog is flooded.

In Gray's bogs in Pacific County, two guys ride "beaters." These small, combinelike devices free the fruit from the flooded bog bottom, and the berries rise to the surface.

Then five workers in chest waders wield rakes and floating booms, assisted by a steady 15 mph south wind, to funnel fruit to a conveyor that lifts them to the farm truck, which Gray drives off to the nearby Ocean Spray grower-owned cooperative plant.

It takes a lot of work — and teamwork — to gather all the small, tangy berries now used in more ways than the Pilgrims or Aunt Ethel ever imagined, including sauces, chutneys, biscotti, biryani and semifreddos.

Beater operator Dave Unruh adds: "My wife makes a killer cran-apple pie."

Alan Berner: 206-464-8133 or aberner@seattletimes.com