Our Story

Orville Johnston dreamed of a thriving cranberry industry in Ontario with Muskoka at its centre. After meeting his wife-to-be June at McGill University, where he was studying agriculture and she was studying home economics, he bought land in Bala and began building their future. Their passion was for growing food, raising a family of four and making products with the fruit they grew. Orv and June passed that passion onto their children.

The Next Generation

Orv and June's son, Murray, studied agriculture at University of Guelph with an eye on continuing the cranberry tradition. Murray's wife, Wendy, studied recreation and tourism at University of Waterloo and education at University of Toronto. Despite being no stranger to agriculture, Wendy found cranberry cultivation particularly fascinating and dreamed of finding ways to share the Johnston cranberry story with visitors.

Together, Murray and Wendy continued the farm and added a gift store, activities for visitors and, finally, Muskoka Lakes Winery. The idea behind the winery was to take locally grown fruit and use traditional methods to craft artisanal wine. The farm is now open to visitors year round with wine tasting, trails, tours and kids' activities. Muskoka Lakes wines are also available in the LCBO.

The Future

Murray and Wendy have four boys who help out on the farm. Their grandfather carved a cranberry farm out of the rugged Muskoka landscape. Their grandmother created, 'Mrs J's Preserves' and wrote a cookbook. Their parents built a destination and started a winery. Who knows what kind of future these boys are dreaming of for cranberries? We look forward to finding out!