Johnston\u2019s Cranberry Marsh<\/a> in Bala, Ont., with her husband, Murray Johnston, she\u2019s always looking for new ways to bring visitors to their farm \u2014 about 40,000 of them each year. Whether it\u2019s touring the 27 acres of cranberry bogs or sampling the cranberry wines made by their Muskoka Lakes Winery, there\u2019s always something to see, do, eat or drink.<\/p>\nP: What do you enjoy most about working on a cranberry farm?<\/h3>\n
WH: I love living in a rural area. I also believe very strongly in sustainable agriculture. What I do is fulfilling because I feel we\u2019re contributing to that. We\u2019re also contributing to the economic health of our area \u2014 Bala has developed its branding around cranberries.<\/p>\n
P: The Bala Cranberry Festival is kind of a big deal \u2014 it\u2019s one of the top events in Ontario. How are you involved?<\/h3>\n
WH: Ontario has very few cranberry growers (there are three commercial producers), and two of us are near Bala. When the town started the festival 30 years ago, it wanted to celebrate that uniqueness. We\u2019ve been presenting sponsors of the festival since the beginning, and offer visitors a chance to see and experience a working cranberry farm. We offer wagon tours, wine tasting, helicopter rides, a mini farmers\u2019 market and, of course, fresh cranberries. We also started a \u201cstand in the berries\u201d experience, where people can put on a pair of hip waders and get out in the cranberries.<\/p>\n
P: You have an MBA and your husband has a B.Sc. in agriculture, both from Guelph. How do your academic backgrounds complement each other?<\/h3>\n
WH: Murray has a skill set that I don\u2019t have. His expertise in cranberries and his understanding of plant physiology are pretty amazing, and he does a lot of research and development trying to understand his craft. I took sommelier studies when we started the winery, and the MBA was a way to bring more tools to the business to help us grow and survive. What I love about Guelph\u2019s program is it\u2019s agriculturally based, and hospitality and tourism based. It really hit both of the major aspects of our business.<\/p>\n
P: Why did you decide to expand your farm operations to include agritourism?<\/h3>\n
WH: My undergrad was in recreation and tourism, so the agritourism side of things interested me and I developed them here: the expansion into farm-gate sales, value-added production and tours. We have a pretty small farm, so to stay in business and remain competitive, we\u2019ve had to diversify and create extra value for the fruit that we grow.<\/p>\n
P: What\u2019s something people don\u2019t know about cranberries?<\/h3>\n
WH: Cranberries don\u2019t grow underwater. They grow on a trailing vine that forms a low, dense ground cover that hides the berries. At harvest time, we flood the bogs so the cranberries float to the top of the vine biomass to make them easier to pick. Our harvester combs the berries off the vines and collects them in boats.<\/p>\n
\u2013 SUSAN BUBAK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Living and working on a cranberry farm for more than 30 years hasn\u2019t quenched Wendy Hogarth\u2019s thirst for cranberry juice \u2014 she drinks her farm\u2019s own brand every day. As co-owner of Johnston\u2019s Cranberry Marsh in Bala, Ont., with her husband, Murray Johnston, she\u2019s always looking for new ways to bring visitors to their farm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":411,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Photo by Jennifer Roberts","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":null,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":null},"categories":[25],"tags":[33,50,52,51],"yoast_head":"\n
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