The cranberry industry has seen changes through the years, but at Woody Hartley’s modern bogs there’s one tool that never went out of style.

Used for dry harvesting, Hartley demonstrated on Saturday how to use an old-fashioned cranberry scoop. The wooden tool is used to pick the berries at the bog’s edge missed by harvesting machines.

“We put a lot of effort to grow the berries,” he said. “So we’re going to make sure we harvest all of them.”

Hartley spoke to the approximately 30 people who attended the second half of the “Bees ‘n’ Bogs” program, which is part of a year-long initiative called My Own Backyard (MOBY.)

MOBY was created after tri-town libraries received a $10,000 grant to encourage gets to explore nature in the area. The grant also allows for the purchase of 50 backpacks full of materials to help kids learn while they go explore. The backpacks will be available to check out from the libraries in the coming weeks.

“We want to get students outside and exploring to see what the tri-town has to offer,” said Michelle Cusolito of Rochester. “Everything from ecosystems to vernal pools to how local agricultural works.”

Cusolito, a science educator and author, is playing a big role in helping kids become more familiar with the tri-town landscape. That included helping with Saturday’s program.

The first part of "Bees 'n' Bogs" was held Oct. 4 and featured beekeepers Marcie Taylor and Wayne Andrews who taught kids about pollinators and brought a live hive.

Hartley, who is Rochester's moderator, explained to the group that each year he leases hives four to five weeks each summer to ensure that his 36-acre property is thoroughly pollinated.

The bees he uses also pollinate Maine blueberries and other crops throughout New England.

“It’s really fun to come down before the wind picks up because the bogs are literally buzzing with bees. You can hear it,” Hartley said.

Bumblebees and dragonflies do have habitats nearby Hartley said, but hiring the bees ensures a good crop.

“Dragonflies are good pollinators. If one lands on a cranberry flower then flies over the next plant, they’re married,” he said. “But, we don’t want to take a chance.”

This year, heavy rain at the height of the pollination season put a damper on the harvest.

On July 4, a storm flooded the flowering bogs.

“We lost about thirty percent of our crop that day,” Hartley explained. “It’s discouraging when you know the harvest isn’t going to be what you hoped.”

On Saturday, Hartley’s family operated machines to pick up the last of the dry harvested cranberries from a bog. Those berries will be sold as whole fruit in supermarkets and only account for a small portion of the annual harvest.

Hartley explained that 95 percent of cranberries are used for juices, jellies and other processed foods. Those berries are gathered using water-harvesting techniques where the bogs are flooded, the berries are knocked loose and then vacuumed into a machine that cleans them before shipment. Hartley uses both methods.

Inside a barn on the property, Hartley showed the group antique tools used by his family, who have a long history of farming in Rochester.

A cranberry scoop that belonged to his grandmother was on display as were antique cranberry barrels.

In the back of the barn, Hartley turned on an old cranberry separator. Made mostly of wood, the machine uses the same technology employed by modern machines.

He placed cranberries into the separator to show the crowd how it worked. Low-quality berries are removed and the best cranberries are sent to a short conveyor belt. Kids in attendance were invited to sit at the belt and pick out the few berries missed by the machine.

Unlike previous generations that would have had to sort berries for hours, Hartley didn’t put the kids to work for long.

Additional MOBY events will be scheduled throughout the year.

And for all the adventures, families are encouraged to post pictures and to learn more about the great outdoors. Find MOBYfun on Facebook, Twitter (#MOBYfun) and Pinterest to join the online conversation.

The program focuses on kids in grades three through eight, but all are welcome to participate, said organizers. For more information, contact Susan Pizzolato (Mattaposiett) at 508-758-4171, Gail Roberts (Rochester) at 508-763-8600, Libby O’Neill (Marion) at 508-748-1252 or Cusolito at 508-763-3736.