The low growing vines blossom in late June or early July. Honeybees assist in pollination and small green berries are evident by early August. The cranberry matures until fall harvest when the crimson berries are floated to the surface, dislodged by a mechanical harvester. Cranberries can be either dry or wet harvested. In Wisconsin, even when dry harvesting, the beds are flooded with a few inches of water to cushion the fruit and reduce bruising.
Mechanical rakes remove the berries from the vines with an action similar to a comb.
Dry harvested fruit is usually sold for fresh use. For wet harvesting, beds are flooded with eight to ten inches. A water reel harvester with a beater on the front is driven through the bed to remove the berries from the vines. The berries then float to the water's surface where they are corralled into a corner and conveyed out of the bed to a waiting truck. Wet harvested berries usually are used for processing.