From the Bog to the Bottle

Every year my dad and I take a trip to Cranmoor, Wisconsin to buy cranberries. We have made great friends with Mary Brazeau Brown, and her family farm of cranberries. Her father was one of the cranberry poineers in Wisconsin. Cranberries are one of the few native berries to America, first found in Wisconsin. Her business, Glacial Lake Cranberries keeps her and her husband, Phil, busy. They sell fresh cranberries there, give tours of the bogs, and have a refuge for wild animals on their property. We stay in the Stone Cottage which is decked out in cranberries and birds. The Stone Cottage has space heaters, that every year I turn up too high, and every year Dad opens his window in his room in the middle of the night. There are many birds on their property who like the marsh and bogs and water. It's really beautiful up there, the fall colors always seem more vivid, more reds and bright yellows, and the weather is always colder, which is strangely nice. The bogs are steamy and foggy in the morning, and occassionally we wake up to frost and the sprinklers going trying to keep the berries protected. This year we met Mary and Phil's son, fresh back from college, and I loved observing the similar dynamic of a family owned and run business. Mary and Phil treat us like long lost friends, and every year we come home completely excited about cranberries, and already looking forward to our trip next year. If ever you are looking for a beautiful, serene, secluded get away, I would suggest of visit of your own to Glacial Lake Cranberries and the Stone Cottage.

While I am talking about Cranberries, our Cranberry wine (made from 2005 berries) is ready for you to purchase. It is a little sweet, a little tart, and goes perfect with turkey. I like to say it makes your family bearable on Thanksgiving. ;)