Harvest

Harvest usually takes place mid-September to mid-October.  It begins by partially flooding the beds with water that is brought in by a series of pumps & culverts.  A tractor & rack go through the beds to knock the berries off the vines.  The  beds are then fully flooded, allowing the berries float on the surface of the water.  

Berries are then corralled to one end of the bed with a boom, and siphoned off using a berry pump.  The berry pump separates most of the debris from the cranberries, and the debris is later sold as compost.

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The berries are loaded into gravity wagons and hauled to the berry washing building, where they are rinsed and put onto semi-trucks.  

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• Semi-trucks hold approximately 3 gravity boxes of cranberries.  There are anywhere from 8-16 gravity boxes in a bed, depending on its size.

• The average crew can harvest 2 long beds or 4 short per day.  Equaling around 8-10 semi loads a day.

• The marsh produces millions of pounds of cranberries.

Marsh Tours offered daily during Harvest!