Owen Rock Cranberries – Mark Mahoney, owner, and Jim Bielmeier, marsh manager, hosted a tour of their marsh this fall. They have the same concerns with over-abundance of Nitrates in the water as we have. Excess Nitrates in the water makes for leggy cranberry plants resulting in less growth of berries. For us, it’s Blue-Green Algae. So, they take steps to “settle out” the excess nutrients in their marsh ponds. Nitrates in the marsh ponds will convert to harmless Nitrogen in the air, much as we are attempting to do in our experimental denitrification project in the Leola ditch on nearby DNR land. While their marsh and beds are a “closed system”, we know that surface water and groundwater are connected, so what growers like Owen Rock do to filter out excess nutrients benefits us as well. Friends of the 14 Mile watershed!
