Harvest time for our state fruit is in full swing as growers are flooding their cranberry marshes to get their crop to float to the top.

In this Wandering Wisconsin, Sarah Stokes takes us just east of Black River Falls to Brockway Cranberry Marsh to show us what the harvest is all about.

Sarah: October means cranberry harvest time here in Wisconsin and Wisconsin leads the nation and has for years in the production of cranberries and a lot of it is happening right here in our own backyard.

If you grow this little red round crop for a living, you're "berry" busy now.

"I think every body that has a cranberry marsh is harvesting this week," says Jim Bible. His marsh is hopping with a conveyor belt of berries bumping along.

Bible adds, "all our berries are taken to Tomah to the receiving plant. They are all turned into Ocean Spray products from there."

His dad first tested the waters in this business back in 1981, then Jim got growing and hasn't stopped.

"They're natively found here so it just makes sense for the expansion to take place and we're jumping on board and doing the same thing," he adds.

He says he's proud to grow the state fruit, that's turned into an international snack. He says 25% of Wisconsin cranberries are sent overseas.

"I think it's a neat thing for Wisconsin to be known as the top producing cranberry area in the world and in the country for 15 years we've led the whole country in cranberry production."

But how does this berry begin?

Bible explains the crop and the harvest:

"I think the biggest misconception is that people think it's grown in water
They grow on top of the ground, they like to kinda grow in sand. They also like an acidic soil, that's why they're found natively in this area.
The cranberry has 4 little air pockets inside that cause it to float, so when it comes to harvest time we run water in our sections, just enough for the berries to come up and then we go in with our water reels and knock the berries off and then when we are done with that section we put more water on it so they float freely like you see behind me.

On a cool windy day like this it blows them all to one end and then we use our fruit pump to help get the berries out of the bed, clean them up and put them in the truck."

They hope to send 10,000 barrels to Ocean Spray or one million pounds just from this Jackson County marsh alone.

"Very satisfying to have your harvest and finish up.
I think the state and people should be proud of this type of agriculture," Bible said.

Sarah: Jim Bible says he welcomes anybody to come by the marsh and take a look and learn a little bit more about our state fruit.

Bible tells us the cranberry got its name from the settlers because when it blooms, the blossom looked like the head of a Sandhill Crane. He says they called them craneberries and it evolved over time into cranberries.

Directions to Jim Bible's marsh:

Exit I-94 at the second Black River Falls exit and turn right on Hwy 54 west. Then go to second set of stop lights and turn left on Hwy 12 & 27 east. Then go about a mile and turn left on Hwy 12 east. Go about 2 miles and turn left on Castle Mound Road. Marsh is on left hand side of the road.