Jersey Shore Magazine

j e r s e y s h o r e • F A L L / H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 6 63 One of the cranberry bogs at Pine Barrens Native Fruits in Browns Mills. continued on page 64 history, current farming methods, and ongoing research. Her husband, Joe Darlington, also a fifth generation grower, is a direct descendent of the growers who made history cultivating the highbush blueberry and invent- ing modern day cranberry harvesting methods. It's an eye opening journey into just how much experience, hard work, and modern day science goes into running a cranberry farm. Going Native: Grapes & Blueberries According to Conner, three crops were native to North America—cran- berries, blueberries, and Concord grapes—and all have interesting Tom Shuff connections to New Jersey. Thomas Welch, of Vineland (which is south- west of here), was the inventor of the pasteurization process for the pre- vention of the fermentation of grape juice. His son, Charles E. Welch, later launched Welch's Grape Juice Company in 1893. The history of blueberries is inti- mately tied to cranberry growing. Historic Whitesbog Village in Browns Mills, which still stands today, was the largest cranberry farm in New Jersey in the early 1900s. Its founder, J.J. White, was a recognized leader in the industry and involved his daugh- ter, Elizabeth, in the family business. he is going is an utter mystery. I am already in awe of this experience. I am in the Pine Barrens. Soon I pull into Pine Barrens Native Fruits in Browns Mills (which is geographically west of Seaside Heights), a three hundred fifty acre farm of seventy-six active bogs. As I join others on the tour, we enter a rustic shed for a slide presentation offered by the farm's owner, Brenda Conner, a fifth generation grower. "I know what you've all heard about Pineys; we are not inbred," she jokes. And indeed, she quickly demonstrates the immense scope of her knowledge by sharing a wealth of information about New Jersey's rich agricultural

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