Oakland Township

Cranberry bog rings lake

By Linda Shepard
C & G Staff Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Visitors to Cranberry Lake Park make tie-died shirts with crushed cranberries July 14. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Visitors to Cranberry Lake Park make tie-died shirts with crushed cranberries July 14.

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP — Cranberries are one of only three berries native to Michigan, along with blueberries and grapes.

“The prime event here is the cranberry bog,” said Barb Bray, Dinosaur Hill naturalist at Cranberry Lake Park. Nearly all regions of Michigan meet the climate requirements of cranberries, state Michigan Department of Agriculture officials.

Bray led a group of residents through the park to the lake July 14, which is surrounded by wetlands that obscure the bog. On the walk to the bog, Bray pointed out common milkweed that attracts monarch butterflies and old apple trees, which serve as a clue to the park’s former life as a farm.

Cranberry Lake Park is home to the Cranberry Lake Historic District on Predmore Road. The Axford, Taylor and Kline families farmed the land until 1908. Oil company executive Howard Aldridge Coffin’s family used the farmhouse as a summer home between 1939 and 1951, state township officials.

The park sits on the sandy and dry soil of a black oak savanna that fosters wild bergamot, white clover, goldenrod, skunk cabbage and much more. The area is currently under threat from invasive species that that could push native plants out, Bray said.

The cranberry bog rings the eastern shore of the park’s Cranberry Lake. “The bog is sensitive,” Bray said. Development around the lake’s northern shore could affect low oxygen levels in the lake if careful maintenance is not practiced.

“It had a big fish die-off a few years ago,” she said. “Plant matter sunk to the bottom of the lake.”

Cranberries are also a natural plant material that can be used for dye, Bray said. She demonstrated how boiling one cup of water with two cups of crushed cranberries and straining the results leaves you with a red fabric dye.

The Oakland Township family of Tim, Mary, Brendan and Brittany Johnson attended the Cranberry Park lecture and nature walk, and dyed T-shirts red with cranberry dye. “It is a fun family thing,” Tim Johnson said. “We also come here for the music concerts.”

Cranberry Lake Park will host the Windthrop Winds quintet in concert July 20. The free concert features classical, pop and world music. The Windthrop Winds — composed of a flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon — will perform on the porch of the park’s recently restored historic Axford Coffin farmhouse.

All are invited to tour the park’s historic buildings and purchase hotdogs and ice cream; bring your own lawn chairs for seating.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 28, Cranberry Lake Park will celebrate Down on the Farm, when all ages will learn about historic farm tools and machinery, see livestock animals and tour the historic buildings.

The event will also include butter churning demonstration, farm education booths, bee-keeping presentations, traditional outdoor and old-fashioned games, display and education booths, crafts and more. No registration is necessary.

Cranberry Lake Farm Historic District and Park is located at 388 Predmore Road, just west of Rochester Road. For more information about events at the park, call (248) 651-7810.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Linda Shepard at lshepard@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1065.