Centennial Cranberry Farm

Centennial Cranberry Farm

Loren House sells his cranberries in bulk to a Wisconsin processing plant, but he and his wife Sharon also sell their cranberries directly to visitors, including BBQ sauce, dried cranberries, cranberry jam and syrup, cranberry sauce, and salsa.

In the 1890s cranberries were one of Whitefish Point's exports. John Clarke's farm, right here, was the oldest of some 18 cranberry farms. Clarke noticed that Native Americans sold wild cranberries and blueberries to Lake Superior schooners. He successfully tried farming them in the moist, sandy, acidic soils here, where Lake Superior moderates the cold climate. He bought his farm from the U.S. government in 1876, the nation's centennial year—hence, the name. Other cranberry growers brought their harvest here, where it was easily shipped by boat to places like Chicago.

Most Midwestern cranberries today come from Wisconsin, the nation's #1 cranberry producer. Centennial's farmers, Loren and Sharon House, take their wholesale crop to the Cliffstar processing plant in Warrens, Wisconsin. There it is made into cranberry sauce and juice for Wal-Mart and many private labels.

The Houses decided to take advantage of all the Shipwreck Museum traffic going to Whitefish Point past their side road They opened their historic farm, on a back road, to visitors and developed a self-guided tour with a half-hour video about growing and harvesting cranberries. They've also put a few picnic tables by the harvesting equipment. Interpretive signs are by the cranberry marsh. The Houses' "centennial cranberry" web site is also quite informative.

With the help of Michigan cherry canners, they have created their own cranberry products sold in their gift shop: BBQ sauce, dried cranberries, cranberry jam and syrup, cranberry sauce, salsa, and more. These are sold by mail year-round.
The tour sheds a common misconception about cranberries. They are not grown in water, the Houses point out. That would make them rot. They like damp soil, like an ordinary garden if watered daily. Cranberry beds are surrounded by dikes, ditches, and roads, which are flooded at harvest time. Then boom boards are hooked together into long chains to corral the cranberries, so they can be picked up by conveyors, loaded onto trucks, cleaned, and taken to be cleaned again. But this procedure is only for cranberries destined to be processed into sauce and other products.

Fresh cranberries shouldn't be bruised in picking and cleaning. They are picked dry by something like a lawnmower with a comb and boards, then bounced and separated to select only the firm ones. Harvest time in October is the most interesting time for a visit.

Because of the House farm's isolation, it suffers few pests. Some years no pesticides at all are necessary. And lately bumblebees have shown up, each one doing the work of some 100 honeybees. Demand for organic cranberries is growing, Sharon House notes. She thinks the U.P. could support more cranberry farms, possibly organic.

Cranberries are sold here and also shipped to customers by the pound through October, sometimes into November. Phone or e-mail in early October for a more exact harvest date: giftshop@centennialcranberry.com. Visitors can shop here for no charge.

10 miles north of Paradise on Whitefish Point Road to Wildcat Road. At sign, go 2 miles west. (906) 492-3314. Open from Mem. Day weekend through Oct., daily noon to 5. $10/car. Free admission in Oct. Handicap access: 3 steps up to theater, 3 down.

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