At Shelburne Vineyard, the grapes aren’t looking very ripe this year. “This is where all of our potential crop would be,” said winemaker Ethan Joseph, pointing to a vine. “It’s completely dried up at this point.”Joseph said last week’s frost is to blame for crushing at least half of this year’s crop.It’s a loss that he said he hasn’t seen in his 16 years of harvesting.”This is a crop that we’ve cared about. I mean, the vines are 16, 17 years old. We put a lot of work into them already. We love what we do and so yeah, it’s heartbreaking,” Joseph said.Shelburne Vineyard isn’t alone.Vermont’s Secretary of Agriculture, Food & Markets, Anson Tebbetts, said the mid-May frost had a widespread impact on multiple crops, including blueberries, pears, peaches and especially apples.”All those early crops were just starting to take off and then things dipped into places, sometimes 25 degrees. It was a hard frost and a killing frost,” Tebbetts said.Tebbetts said this isn’t unique to Vermont since New York and New Hampshire are reporting similar problems.Tebbetts is urging farmers to report any and all damage to their local Vermont Farm Services Agency office so they can notify the USDA and potentially get farmers some help. “Most folks that I’ve been talking with this week say this is, in the last 25 years, they’ve never experienced it this harsh,” Tebbetts said.With that said, Tebbetts said there are some indications that farms close to Lake Champlain may not have been hit as hard.For example, Shelburne Orchard said the frost had little to no impact on their apple crop, but other locations weren’t so lucky. Back at the vineyard, Joseph said while the loss will mostly impact next year’s wine, now more than ever, customers should be supporting local farmers and businesses.”Come on out this year while we have the same great products that we’ve been making. We want to fill the tasting room this year and have better sales than maybe we would have,” he said, as they tried to recuperate from the curveball to their crop.What does this mean for you-pick fruit this summer and fall? Officials said it’s still too early to tell in many spots, but people should check in with their local farm as more fruits come into season to see if they’re offering you-pick. Many may have a smaller crop this year.
At Shelburne Vineyard, the grapes aren’t looking very ripe this year.
“This is where all of our potential crop would be,” said winemaker Ethan Joseph, pointing to a vine. “It’s completely dried up at this point.”
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Joseph said last week’s frost is to blame for crushing at least half of this year’s crop.
It’s a loss that he said he hasn’t seen in his 16 years of harvesting.
“This is a crop that we’ve cared about. I mean, the vines are 16, 17 years old. We put a lot of work into them already. We love what we do and so yeah, it’s heartbreaking,” Joseph said.
Shelburne Vineyard isn’t alone.
Vermont’s Secretary of Agriculture, Food & Markets, Anson Tebbetts, said the mid-May frost had a widespread impact on multiple crops, including blueberries, pears, peaches and especially apples.
“All those early crops were just starting to take off and then things dipped into places, sometimes 25 degrees. It was a hard frost and a killing frost,” Tebbetts said.
Tebbetts said this isn’t unique to Vermont since New York and New Hampshire are reporting similar problems.
Tebbetts is urging farmers to report any and all damage to their local Vermont Farm Services Agency office so they can notify the USDA and potentially get farmers some help.
“Most folks that I’ve been talking with this week say this is, in the last 25 years, they’ve never experienced it this harsh,” Tebbetts said.
With that said, Tebbetts said there are some indications that farms close to Lake Champlain may not have been hit as hard.
For example, Shelburne Orchard said the frost had little to no impact on their apple crop, but other locations weren’t so lucky.
Back at the vineyard, Joseph said while the loss will mostly impact next year’s wine, now more than ever, customers should be supporting local farmers and businesses.
“Come on out this year while we have the same great products that we’ve been making. We want to fill the tasting room this year and have better sales than maybe we would have,” he said, as they tried to recuperate from the curveball to their crop.
What does this mean for you-pick fruit this summer and fall? Officials said it’s still too early to tell in many spots, but people should check in with their local farm as more fruits come into season to see if they’re offering you-pick. Many may have a smaller crop this year.
