beneath the umbrella bloom
Urban Forestry Restoration within Cranberry Bogs
Conceptual Approach
Into the early 20th century, two industries emerged in Wareham: summer tourism and cranberry growing. Together, these industries would go on to transform major elements of Wareham’s landscape and industry. Economically, cranberry growing served as a vital source of Wareham’s growth and has long provided many jobs for the local communities.
However, today, cranberry growth and its practice are threatened by warming temperatures that might one day eradicate the once-booming industry and core culture of this land. BENEATH THE UMBRELLA BLOOM proposes the incorporation of forestry to provide shade within the bogs, creating cooling microclimates that can help to extend the life of the cranberry culture.
Site: Wareham, MA
Academic Year: 2022
farm among the forest
beneath the bogs
Cranberries are fruits that adapt well to a cooler climate. However, due to climate change and rising temperatures, winters in the past year (and of the projected future) will no longer be cold enough to keep these bogs frozen. The warming of the bogs in its supposedly “dormant” phases starts to cause a deformity called the Umbrella Bloom, wherein the vegetative portion of the bud does not grow.
Essentially, it is a deformity that halts the quality of cranberries or the growth altogether, posing a major problem for farmers. I wish to create a better-suited environment that gives the cranberry culture a second life, while also keeping tourism and the livelihood of Wareham from disappearing. The goal is to provide a source with which shade is a utility that can be grown and harvested just like cranberries..
Farm Among the Forest
The town of Wareham in Plymouth County serves as a critical production spot for cranberries in Massachusetts. Along the coastal land, freshwater and farmland populate inland while patches of forest density grow interspersing within. The site of Old Orchard Bog serves as a farmland suitable for cranberries and other agricultural uses. Incidentally, this area of the bog is one of the primary sites along the coast that has a lack of forest canopy, causing the average ground temperature to be warmer. How can an introduction of forestry serve the cranberry bogs' longevity and future production?
