Rose Howell is a Burlington High School student working with the Underground Workshop, a network of student journalists across Vermont partnering with Community News Service.
What does farming look like for Vermont farmers?
Mark Krawczyk, 45, and his family run a small farm in New Haven, Vermont, with a focus on shiitake mushrooms and black currants. Based on Vergennes clay — a type of thick clay soil that’s common in the Champlain Valley, but not ideal for growing fruit — Valley Clayplain Forest Farm has certainly learned to adapt. As Krawczyk said, being a farmer requires innovation and creativity.
Krawczyk grew up in the suburbs in Wisconsin and entered the farming world through holistic planning and designing permaculture zones. He attended the University of Vermont, majoring in Environmental Studies and graduating in 1997. He now lives on Valley Clayplain Forest Farm with his wife, Ammy, and their 2-year-old daughter.
Krawczyk said that the integration of agroforestry into his farm has been a success at times and a challenge at others. Agroforestry essentially means growing trees and shrubs alongside a farmer’s crops to cultivate a more diverse ecosystem.
“We’ve had success just by planting species and seeing what we can grow,” Krawczyk said. “[Shiitake mushrooms and black currants] were products that emerged from half a dozen years of trying different things.”
Krawczyk added that he thinks the idea of vegetable farms is relatively recent in Vermont’s history. In the mid-1800s, the sheep industry rose to prominence in Vermont, which resulted in 80% of Vermont’s land being cleared, which was later replaced by dairy farming.
Krawczyk also said that there have been shifts in the meat industry, including more pasture-raised animals and considerations for holistic management.
“Especially from the angle I’m interested in, the whole idea of agroforestry is becoming more and more popularized,” he said.
It took a few years of trying new things for Valley Clayplain Forest Farm to find its specialty products. Krawczyk and his family have been on the property for about 11 years but only really started the farm about four years ago.
Krawczyk’s family earns about a third of their income from farming, so Krawczyk works to design and consult as well. He said he tries to pursue jobs that interest him, while still leaving time for the farm.
When asked about climate change concerns, Krawczyk said that climate models can provide a forecast, but aren’t always accurate.
“Because of that, I don’t tend to get too concerned about it because it’s out of my control,” Krawczyk said. “[I] try to work with it knowing that that’s what happens, that things change.”
Nathan Lake, 34, a field and farm coordinator and project manager of the People’s Farm through the Intervale in Burlington, said conversations about climate change are prominent when ensuring the use of sustainable agriculture.
One effect of climate change in Vermont has been an increase in flooding. Lake said that the excessive flooding this past summer was devastating.
“The Intervale is a place that has been historically flooded for thousands of years. So it’s kind of a double-edged sword,” Lake said. “Flooding has made the soil really good for farming down here. [But] it’s obviously really hard when it happens and you lose everything that year.”
The People’s Farm was started during the Covid-19 pandemic, and is now going into its fifth year growing vegetables. The farm is based around a free CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program called the Fair Share. The People’s Farm distributes free food every week to families who signed up for the CSA. The amount of food each family gets is based on income.
“[The need] for food security during the pandemic seemed to really increase … so we wanted to start a farm here to help grow a bunch of food, to supplement the fair share CSA,” Lake said.
Lake grew up on Cape Cod, studied natural resources and ecology at UVM and then got involved in farming through a farmer training program in Petaluma, California.
“I found myself really enjoying the work, and I felt myself be much more engaged in the hands-on environment of the farmer training program than I necessarily was in college or school,” Lake said.
After discovering his passion for farming and returning to Vermont, Lake dabbled in farming at a few different places before co-starting his own farm and then moving on to the Intervale. From land steward to People’s Farm manager, Lake is certainly not free from his own farming challenges. Instead of land troubles like Krawczyk, he has trouble with stability when it comes to staffing.
“With only having volunteers to help accomplish all the goals of the farm, it can be pretty random and inconsistent as far as knowing how much work can be done,” Lake said.
However, Lake said that there has been a lot of innovation in organic vegetable farming, especially in the past decade.
“It seems that there was a lot of dairy farming in the state and that seems to be sort of dwindling. … I feel like I see a lot more vegetable [farms] than what I imagined or understand of [past] Vermont,” he said.
Krawczyk also believes the farming world is heading toward younger, small-scale farms gaining popularity.
“We’ve seen more of a continued shift towards ecological ways of growing. I do think that a lot of the agroforestry practices are kind of the next horizon,” Krawczyk said. “In a lot of ways that next step is how we can further diversify the landscape for conservation benefits and in more diverse yields.”
Both Krawczyk and Lake feel hopeful about the future of farming in Vermont, and they encourage people to get involved.
“I do think we’re lucky. The local food movement has been so well established here for so long that people do really appreciate and connect with [farming]. That feels good, that there’s a strong consumer demand for locally grown products,” Krawczyk said.
Krawczyk and Lake also said they appreciate the different opportunities farming offers.
“If you can just try to find some way to get involved, it’s a really amazing way to meet new people and learn new things,” Lake said. “[Farming teaches] skills that could help you for the rest of your life.”
In this month’s installation, our reporters showcase the evolution of farming in Vermont. From environmental adaptations to overcoming racial barriers to young farmers learning from their families, the Underground Workshop’s March 2024 stories show a spectrum of people and places that take part in the Vermont tradition of agriculture. To learn more about the Underground Workshop, visit our website or check us out on Instagram @undergroundworkshopvt.