Du Bay Cranberry Company says Wisconsin’s number one fruit will thrive this year

Junction Metropolis, Wis. (WSAW) – Du Bay Cranberry Firm mentioned this 12 months can be 12 months for the cranberry crop. For them, the harvest begins subsequent week because the berries attain the proper shade of purple, which signifies the time for harvest.

Dave Hansen, supervisor of Du Bay Cranberry Firm, mentioned many individuals aren’t conscious of how cranberries really develop. He mentioned the berries don’t develop in water, which is a typical fable.

Hansen displays the temperature of the marshes year-round to verify the cranberries are correctly cared for. There are eleven photo voltaic panels unfold all through the 160 acres which have probes on them. The probes ship an alert to Hansen’s telephone when it will get too chilly for the cranberries. Then, no matter if it’s in the course of the evening or through the day, he has to go flip the sprinklers on so the water can hold the berries heat.

“Colder temperatures deliver on the redness of the fruit,” mentioned Hansen.

Ocean Spray takes a pattern of the berries and makes use of a machine to calculate the colour of the pixels within the berries to find out at what colour stage would make the proper product. As soon as they provide Du Bay the go-ahead to reap, they start the method.

“We’ll put a bit of skinny layer of water down simply to cowl simply beneath the highest of the vines. We’ll take away our irrigation system out, then we’ll herald a tractor with a harvesting machine on it. It’s known as a harrow, and it’ll gently knock off the berries,” mentioned Hansen.

The berries float as a result of they’re largely hole on the within with 4 chambers and little seeds. They then accumulate the floating obstacles, type them from the leaves and ship them to Ocean Spray.

Earlier than the 50s, they used a scooping device to reap the berries by hand. With the excessive demand now, there is no such thing as a method they may harvest 40 thousand barrels in a couple of weeks with out utilizing machines.

Ocean Spray produces 60% of cranberries worldwide and have been the primary producer of cranberries for 27 years. Hansen mentioned it’s peak harvest time and it’s the proper time to go to a cranberry marsh.

Do you know about 4,400 cranberries are wanted to make one gallon of cranberry juice? Cranberries are a superfood and they’re excessive in antioxidants, vitamin D, Vitamin C and Fiber.

Here’s a website with a bunch of scrumptious cranberry recipes. This can be a link to a list of cranberry marshes which have excursions.

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