Crantastic: Wisconsin is the Bog Boss

When word reached the Drink Wisconsinbly Week in Review News Desk that Wisconsin leads the nation in beer consumption, it barely made a ripple. This, of course, barely qualifies as news around these parts. So rather than phone in another piece about our love of beer for today’s newsletter, the Editorial Board instead turned its attention to the quiet middle child of Wisconsin exports: cranberries.

With harvest season nearly upon us, the bogs of central Wisconsin deserve their moment in the sun. While not a media darling like beer and dairy products, cranberries are just as closely tied to our state. Wisconsin accounts for more than 70% of the nation’s cranberries, and more than half of the world’s supply.

The acidic berries that you know so well from Thanksgiving dinner and from DW Vodka Cocktails are native to Wisconsin. Our wetlands and marshlands are ideal for growing them. While most crops don’t grow in our sandy, acidic soil, cranberries flourish.

That soil makeup goes back to a periglacial lake that covered the area somewhere between 14,000 and 18,000 years ago. But our flat landscape led to poor drainage, which inadvertently turned Wisconsin into Cranberryland about 1,600 years later.

In addition, our climate, water supply, and close-knit farming community also contribute to our flourishing cranberry trade. This place is just made for growing those babies.

If you want to learn more about the cranberry game, your timing is perfect. Tours are happening all over the state during the fall harvest. Visit the Wisconsin Cranberries Growers Association website to find a marsh tour near you.

Or, if you’re feeling less ambitious, you can celebrate a bountiful harvest by raising a DW Vodka and Cranberry to the hardworking farmers in Wisconsin’s bogs. You won’t learn as much, but it’ll still be enjoyable.