Intervale Center copes with flood damage

Burlington, VT – In the aftermath of last week’s floods many Vermonters are dealing with damage to their homes and businesses, and farmers are no exception.

The Intervale Center in Burlington, which leases land to several local farms sustained considerable damage when heavy July rainstorms caused the Winooski River to flood. Some farmers lost everything, and are facing another year of low-yield harvests after going through the same ordeal last July.

Eric Seitz, co-owner of Pitchfork Farm leases land from the Intervale Center, and lost nearly all of his crops when the fields flooded.

“Once again, in mid-July we are starting over from scratch,” Seitz said. “There’s crops that just can’t be replaced this time of year so peppers are done, melons are done, winter squash is done, tomatoes — all those things that are more long-season crops. We’re not going to have them this year.”

Seitz said that after two years of flooding he is rethinking his crop assortment. He plans to move away from long-season crops like tomatoes, peppers and melons and replace them with short-season vegetables like lettuce and other greens. This strategy would allow him to replant his fields multiple times throughout the growing season should floods strike again next summer.

The crops Seitz planted this year cannot be replaced, and even the produce that remained after the flood cannot be salvaged and sold. He noted the financial struggle that two harvests in a row lost to floods has caused him and other farmers, who were hoping to make up for last year’s loss.

“We have an acre of perfect cabbage out there that was about two weeks from being harvestable, a lot of it looks like it will survive, but we just cannot sell it. It’s going to go back into the ground,” Seitz explained. “It’s basically a complete start over.”

In addition to hardships experienced by the individual farmers, the Intervale Center itself estimates that lost crops and restoration costs to the property’s fields and trails will set the organization back $30,000.

Mandy Fischer, Director of Programs at the Intervale Center said the organization’s biggest concern is the welfare and recovery of the farmers who lease its land. She said the Intervale Center intends to do all it can to provide farmers with the resources they need to get back on their feet.

“Our focus in the Intervale right now is really on our agricultural community and supporting them in any way we can,” said Fischer.

“That means providing meals, making sure that people who have lost income can access free food through our programs, providing PPE, mosquito protection, and things like that and then you know dumpsters and roll-offs, making sure that the diesel tank is full, just all of those essential basics that we provide as landlords and as friends.”

Part of the recovery process is raising money to provide those essential resources, which began on Thursday with the first of many Summervale concerts hosted by the Intervale Center. Proceeds from the event will go to the Intervale Farmer Recovery Fund , which helps provide farmers with the resources they need to rebuild. The Intervale Center also encourages any who are able and willing to volunteer for cleanup and restoration efforts.

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