Cranberry harvest is finishing up and while you may see the fruit floating on water, it does not actually grow in water. Cranberries grow on a vine and the water you see is just a part of the harvest process.
Nodji Van Wychen, President of Wetherby Cranberry Company, explains more about harvesting cranberries but first we talk about her role on the marsh and how they got started.
Wetherby Cranberry Company is composed of 200 acres with some of the marshes being over 100 years old. Van Wychen’s role on the marsh is as a tour guide for various groups during harvest. Once all of the cranberries have been harvested, she sorts the berries and is the last person to check them and make sure that they have high quality berries going out for consumers to enjoy.
“Peak cranberry harvest is usually the first three weeks of October, however ours extends a little longer as we do fresh fruit which is more time consuming and labor intensive,” says Van Wychen.
Contrary to popular belief, cranberries do not grow in water. You will only see water in the beds during harvest time and the winter flood time. The root system likes to be moist, but they don’t like to have “wet feet.”
The biggest challenge Wetherby Cranberry Company is facing this harvest season is their labor shortage. With much of their work being outdoors and sometimes in inclement weather, it is hard to find employees that are okay with those conditions. Their receiving stations are also facing labor shortage issues which are affecting growers.
“We as growers have been regulated as to how many semi truckloads of berries we can deliver in a day to our receiving stations. Sometimes we have to miss an entire day because they have to fit all the growers in so that really bottlenecks things up,” adds Van Wychen.
After harvest is completed and winter comes, Van Wychen and her team bring the water levels up to a height that is above the vines to protect it throughout the cold weather. This is called the winter flood. Also during the winter, they design and build their own specialized cranberry equipment.
You can learn more about Wetherby Cranberry Company by going here.
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