Wampanoag people across southeastern Massachusetts have appreciated the astringent qualities of the native Vaccinium macrocarpon for thousands of years. Europeans were not entirely unfamiliar with this plant either when they arrived, because a smaller version of the species, Vaccinium oxycoccos, grows wild in the bogs and marshes of England and the Low Countries. Commercial cultivation took off in Dennis in the early 1800s, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Library, a lovely trove that DOGE has apparently not yet erased. This substitute plant watcher (Joe is still on vacation) just wants to know how to cover her entire property with the stuff; it is a gorgeous groundcover all through the year. But it looks like cranberry craves a boggy site in addition to sandy soil.
