May at the Intervale Center
The Intervale Center is gearing up for the growing season—from tree planting in our agroforestry buffer to our annual Bike Bloom event! Read on to learn more about the fun-filled events and impactful projects going on in the Intervale.
Farms
Our newly refurbished and relaunched farmland matchmaking website, Vermont Land Link, is helping farms like Flower Gap Farm find a home. Margaret Aiken, the owner of Flower Gap Farm, began working with the Intervale Center’s Farm Business Services when she wanted to grow her burgeoning goat herd and dairy production into a goat yogurt enterprise. She turned to Vermont Land Link and connected with an aging couple who were seeking someone to co-live on their 14-acre property and take over management of their farm.
Today, Margaret has renovated their barn into a beautiful space to shelter her expanded goat herd, milking parlor, future farmstand, and more. Read our latest blog post to learn more about this Vermont Land Link success story!
Land
Our Land Stewardship team has been busy planting this spring! We expanded our agroforestry buffer with 114 elderberry bushes, which will eventually bear fruit to be distributed freely to the community. Agroforestry is the intentional integration of trees, shrubs, and perennial plants into an agricultural system. Adding trees on farms improves air quality, sequesters carbon, creates habitat for birds and beneficial insects, and can diversify farm production with fruit and nut-bearing trees and shrubs. Our buffer is part of a project we began in 2024 to explore and demonstrate these benefits to support our farms and ecosystems here in the Intervale. Learn about our agroforestry buffer in our blog!
The Intervale Conservation Nursery is having their end-of-season tree sale! Now through May 28th, all bareroot trees and shrubs over 4’ tall are 50% off! Don’t miss the chance to buy one of our native, locally sourced trees this spring! Contact Ben at benr@intervale.org for a copy of our availability list.
People
The Intervale Center and Old Spokes Home are collaborating to host, Bike Bloom, a celebration of bikes and the outdoors. Group rides will depart from Old Spokes Home at 5:30 pm and will end at the Intervale Center for a party and Bike Show starting at 6:30 pm. Join one of four different guided rides of varying intensity levels and end your ride with some local bites from Harmony’s Kitchen and Frost Beer Works!
Want to lend a hand? We are seeking a few more volunteers to help set-up/break down, welcome folks, support the bike show, and assist with group rides. Sign-up to volunteer at this fun-filled event here!
Summervale returns to the Intervale Center in July! Our free summer festival featuring live music and local food will be a ONE-DAY extravaganza this year on Saturday, July 12th from 2-8pm! More details coming soon. We can’t wait to celebrate our community food system with you!
