Grower Update: Flying Dollar Cranberry
Another year means another opportunity for us to grow another crop of the Wisconsin state fruit! As we start to see the vines turn gradually from their deep purple color to green and the buds start to wake up and swell, so does the cold nights of frost watch start. Everybody is always hoping for cloudy nights and warm south winds, but usually get cold and clear calm nights and that always ends up with being woke up to our frost alarms telling us to start the pumps. After getting the irrigation systems up and running we always seem to find out just what Mother Nature has in store for us to fix what frost damage is done to the marsh. Most years we can get away with little stuff out of place but sometimes you can find out that it can be much more. Frost can cause tubes to wash out and move them out of place. Mainline that runs from your pump to your pipe that actually does the frost protection can be cracked or split. Over time, I’m learning that nothing is safe from the grasp of the awesome power of Mother Nature. You know it’s spring in Wisconsin when one day it’s sunny and 75 degrees and the next it snows on you. That’s what a lot of us woke up to early to mid April. Overall it’s we are looking forward to this year’s crop and are looking to always apply what we learned from years of experience to improve our stewardship. Take care and good luck everybody!
