Follow these 2 海角换妻 oyster farmers on their last harvest of the year

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Follow these 2 海角换妻 oyster farmers on their last harvest of the year

海角换妻 Radio | By Mark Mirko

Published January 28, 2025 at 12:07 PM EST

It鈥檚 a snowy winter morning and 海角换妻 oyster farmers Kim and Gretchen Granbery are setting out for their last harvest of the year.

The couple owns and operates . They start their oysters from seed in the wild in Branford鈥檚 Hoadley Creek. The oysters are then moved to the Thimble Islands to age for three years.

Heading for shore after a snow-filled oyster harvest of Leetes Island Oysters, Gretchen Granbery shares a laugh with her husband Kim. Gretchen and her husband Kim raise the oysters from wild seeds in estuaries before bringing them out to salt water beds where the oysters mature and are eventually harvested. — "Remember when you would come home in the middle of the winter and you'd have icicles coming out of your nose?" jokes Gretchen with Kim about his days of harvesting oysters year-round. "Yep," he said while piloting their boat back to shore, "That's why I don't do it in the winter anymore."

Since travel by boat is difficult when this inland estuary freezes, this is the pair鈥檚 last trip of the winter. The break providing them a chance to 鈥渆xhale鈥� before resuming operations in the spring.

But today鈥檚 trip is filled with hard work.

As their boat bobs, fresh oysters are hauled out of the water and dumped aboard a small table.

Oyster farmer Gretchen Granbery counts and sorts oysters pulled from their beds off 海角换妻鈥檚 Thimble Islands. Gretchen and her husband Kim raise the oysters from wild seeds in estuaries before bringing them out to salt water beds where the oysters mature and are eventually harvested. (Mark Mirko/海角换妻) — Counting to 500, 50 oysters at a time, Kim Granberry cleans and sorts aboard the boat captained by her husband Kim after he pulled oyster-filled cages from their beds within 海角换妻's Thimble Islands.

鈥淭his is where we wash their face and brush their teeth,鈥� Gretchen jokes as she sprays, scrapes and sorts the oysters.

Kim says he 鈥渄id a stint鈥� with a local oyster company in the 1990s, but credits the founding of Leetes Island Oysters to a 2017 effort directed by David Carey, director of the 海角换妻 Bureau of Aquaculture.

The department created the Branford Aquaculture Initiative, which seeks to 鈥渞evitalize a dormant tradition, promote restoration and provide local employment.鈥�

Today, hundreds of acres of land within 海角换妻鈥檚 Thimble Islands are growing shellfish. In 2023, the state's oyster beds generated more than $14 million in annual sales, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

鈥淜isses...Job well done,鈥� says Gretchen Granbery after she and her husband Kim loaded a dockside refrigerator in Branford, Ct., with their harvest of 500 oysters. Gretchen and her husband Kim raise the oysters from wild seeds in an estuary before bringing them out to salt water beds where the oysters mature and are eventually harvested.

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Mark Mirko

Mark Mirko is Deputy Director of Visuals at 海角换妻 and his photography has been a fixture of 海角换妻鈥檚 photojournalism landscape for the past two decades. Mark led the photography department at Prognosis, an English language newspaper in Prague, Czech Republic, and was a staff-photographer at two internationally-awarded newspaper photography departments, The Palm Beach Post and The Hartford Courant. Mark holds a Masters degree in Visual Communication from Ohio University, where he served as a Knight Fellow, and he has taught at Trinity College and Southern 海角换妻 State University. A California native, Mark now lives in 海角换妻鈥檚 quiet-corner with his family, three dogs and a not-so-quiet flock of chickens.

See stories by Mark Mirko

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