The Skirack, Inc family at the Intervale Center and Conservation Nursery. Photo Credit: Zach Walbridge.
The Skirack, Inc family at the Intervale Center and Conservation Nursery. Photo Credit: Zach Walbridge.
Gabby, Zoe and Noah glean raised beds of jalapeno peppers. Photo Credit: Zach Walbridge.
Gabby, Zoe and Noah glean raised beds of jalapeno peppers. Photo Credit: Zach Walbridge.

The scarcity of jewels ensures their worth,
so now we search the earth in earnest for
the items left unloved awhile ago
when great abundance led us to ignore
resources now more precious than before.

I was born and raised in Burlington. When I was a kid, the Intervale was a scary wasteland that people used as a junk yard. When the beltline went in around 1971, you could drive through it and still see parts of old cars around, some even hanging from the cliffs to the west of the wetlands. It was kind of creepy cool to see from a car, but not a place that made you want to get out and walk around.

Today the Intervale thrives as a place to farm, run, bike, ski, have weddings, markets and all sorts of celebrations. This gem of an urban park has in effect been gleaned from its surroundings by visionary Burlingtonians and helped to thrive by all who make use of it. The Intervale Center is always looking for volunteers, so Skirack organized our first all-store service day with them.

Clarke, Laura and Emily plant trees. Photo Credit: Zach Walbridge.
Clarke, Laura and Emily plant trees. Photo Credit: Zach Walbridge.

How great it was to spend a sunny fall day outside doing things we love, like building trails, planting trees or, in my case gardening and digging in the dirt. I’m not sure service is the best word to describe putting a bunch of outdoorsy people in a beautiful place and paying them for it. The opportunity was a gift for us, and luckily the Intervale benefited from our fun.

For the day I was part of the gleaning crew with Hannah Baxter. As gleaners, we rescued overlooked items from the raised beds near the Intervale Center offices, then moved to the Fair Share garden to harvest any remaining watermelons and rid the rows of dead vines and weeds in preparation for the next growing season. We collected 50 watermelons with a total weight of 370 pounds and 850 pounds of apples!

After settling the melon patch, we cleaned out rows of tomatoes and peppers to allow them to thrive and attract pickers for as long as the weather allows. We estimated that we tended about 2600 square feet total. There were still lots of tomatoes and peppers ripening on the vines and stems. We ate our fill, and were told that people would still be coming to harvest what was left. I grabbed a few Jalapeno peppers from plants heading for the compost pile, and have been eating them over the last few days. It’s probably best I didn’t find any of the Carolina Reaper peppers that I hear are farmed nearby.

Tyler clears brush as part of the trail building volunteer group. Photo Credit: Zach Walbridge.
Tyler clears brush as part of the trail building volunteer group. Photo Credit: Zach Walbridge.

After years as a junkyard, the Intervale seems to be full of healthy critters. We found a Katydid, a Northern Leopard frog, and lots of worms and bugs whose presence signifies a healthy growing environment. We even found a wooly bear caterpillar, and nobody rolled their eyes when I told them that the long brown band around it’s middle tells us we’re going to have a severe winter. Get ready for snow!


For information on volunteers opportunities visit the Intervale Center and Conservation Nursery websites