The Cranberry Harvest
It’s Cranberry Harvest Time in Wisconsin!
Starting the first day of October, the harvest begins at the Bassuener Cranberry marsh. For the next two weeks, the 72 acre marsh will bustle with activity as the cranberries are beaten from the vines, corralled into large yellow booms, and loaded into trucks for processing.
This is the time when all the hard work over the last twelve months pays off. The cranberry is a finicky fruit and much care is needed to ensure its survival to harvest. From enveloping the vines in ice for protection, to sanding the beds in winter to keep the vines strong and healthy, fertilizing and pollinating in the spring and summer, and watching for frost in the early fall, caring for the cranberry is a year ‘round labor of love.
On a crisp October morning, there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the fog rising up from the water, the sun shining upon the deep burgundy cranberries, and the bright yellow booms corralling the berries into a big round circle.
Harvest requires the help of family, friends, and neighbors. The camaraderie between the workers from year to year is something special. The ritual of early morning coffee and donuts with stories from the days or seasons gone by is a typical start to the harvest day. Once out on the marsh, the workers are an incredibly efficient team, taking great pride and care in harvesting each berry.
Harvested berries are washed and put into bins, and then quickly moved into the freezer where they will eventually be processed into Urban Best Sweetened Dried Cranberries. Once that last berry is put away for the day, it is time to sit back, relax, and trade stories about the day.
If you’re ever in cranberry country in late Autumn, take a moment to stop and watch a cranberry harvest. You may have to get up early, but it is well worth it.
