No 'Red October' At Double Trouble This Year, State Says

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - The berries in the cranberry bogs at Double Trouble State Park are near crimson now, just about time for the annual harvest.

But that's not going to happen this year. It's been quite a while since a full scale cranberry harvest took place at the bogs. Sadly, no leaseholders have stepped up to harvest the berries this season, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson says.

It's still possible to lease the bogs, but unlikely this year since it's so late in the season.

"An offer to lease would not be off the table," DEP spokesperson Caryn Shinske said. "Any lease would have to be part of an open public bidding process and the bidder would have to accept that the bogs are subject to additional review under the Pinelands Act, as well as the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places."

The last partial cranberry harvest at Double Trouble was in 2012. But when Superstorm Sandy slammed into Ocean County on Oct. 29, 2012, the harvest came to an early end. No leaseholders have stepped up since.
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It's a sad end to what was once a thriving Ocean County business. The Crabbe family of Toms River carefully cultivated and harvested the bogs for more than 60 years. But the family sold the acreage to the state back in 1964 and began leasing the bogs for the annual harvest.

But without annual leaseholders to maintain and harvest the bogs, the cranberry plans are now competing with weeds. The bogs need to be maintained each year so sunlight can hit the cranberry plants, Daniel Crabbe, the grandson of founder Edward Crabbe has said.

"You have to keep the weeds down," he said. "You can mow them."

Occasionally the bogs have to be sanded, too, Crabbe said.

He understands that money is the issue. But that doesn't make it any easier to see the bogs his family cultivated for so long lay fallow.

"The longer it goes, the harder it is to get them back," Crabbe said.

The cranberry bogs and a number of outbuildings at the park make up about 200 acres of the roughly 8,400-acre park. They are part of the Double Trouble Historic District, which was placed on the State Register of Historic Places in 1977 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Part of the problem is the current cranberry marketplace, a former DEP spokesman has said.

"The berry produced at Double Trouble produce far less per acre than the commercial farms that produce hybrid berries that produce much more per acre," he said. "There's also a shorter growing season for that berry. So the pool of farmers who can make that commitment is limited."

If you want to read about what Double Trouble was like in its heyday, click here.

Photo: Patricia A. Miller