• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Real Pickles

Northeast Grown, 100% organic, fermented & raw pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, kvass, and hot sauce

  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Our Farmers
    • Our Co-operative
    • Our Story
    • Our Facility
  • Products
    • Products & Webstore
    • Store Finder
    • FAQ
    • Recipes
  • Fermentation
    • Fermentation Process
    • Health Benefits
  • What’s New?
    • Ferment Blog
      Voices from Real Pickles
    • News
    • Press
Home / Farmers / Chamutka Farm

Chamutka Farm

Location: Whately, MA
Farmers: Dave Chamutka
Supplies Real Pickles with fresh chile peppers, cucumbers, green cabbage, red cabbage, tomatillos

Dave runs Chamutka Farm, a 50-acre certified organic vegetable farm in Whately, MA. Farming since 1980, his major crops include cucumbers, cabbage, squash, tomatoes, and strawberries. He sells his high quality vegetables at local grocery stores and through a local farmer cooperative, the Pioneer Valley Growers Association.

Dave has a long history with pickles. He grew up in South Deerfield, where the Oxford pickle plant (originally the Jewett plant) operated from 1896 to 2006. The Oxford plant was among the largest pickle manufacturers in the Northeast, and served as a primary market for vegetable farmers in the Connecticut River Valley during its years of operation. When he was a kid, Dave’s parents raised a small crop (about 1 1/2 acres) of pickling cucumbers each year for the Oxford plant, as did many of his neighbors. Back then, Oxford paid growers by the number of cucumbers delivered. Dave recalls sitting under the tree as a child, helping his parents to count their freshly-harvested cucumbers. As a teenager, he worked on larger cucumber farms as well as dairies.

Dave started his own farming business in 1980, and bought his current farm just 2 years later. From the beginning, his primary crop was pickling cucumbers, which he sold to the Oxford plant. By the time Dave got into farming for himself, Oxford had begun paying farmers based on weighing and grading of the cucumbers at the plant, so Dave was spared the task of counting each cucumber he harvested! From early on, Dave also specialized in growing tomatoes and winter squash. After farming conventionally for many years, Dave started transitioning to organic in 1998. Now, Dave grows all of his crops certified organically.

Chamutka Farm was the very first supplier to Real Pickles, growing the 1000 pounds of pickling cucumbers we purchased in 2001 to make our first batches of Organic Dill Pickles. Dave continues to this day to be a major source of our two most important vegetables: cucumbers and cabbage. With the Oxford pickle plant now closed, Real Pickles is incredibly fortunate to be able to benefit from Dave’s growing skills and experience as we carry on the pickling tradition in western Massachusetts.

< Back to all farmers

Primary Sidebar

We are so excited to see the delicious photographs We are so excited to see the delicious photographs that @newenglandfoodandfarm made while visiting Nick and his crew at @smetanafoodtruck earlier this month! You can almost taste the flavors of these "Modern Eastern European Fare" dishes that include Real Pickles Sauerkraut and Beet Kvass! If you aren't able to visit Smetana Food Truck (their schedule and location is on their insta page) - we hope you are inspired to create your own dish this holiday weekend! 

#RealPickles #kraut #organic #kvass
We are happy to report that the skilled farmers at We are happy to report that the skilled farmers at Mountain View Farm (and Dave Hayes the Weather Nut!) kept our baby cukes safe and warm during the recent freeze! Cucumber pickles will be back in early July!  #RealPickles #organic #NortheastGrown 

Posted @withregram • @mtviewfarm Here's a sunrise photo from this morning at 5:30 AM when we were out checking things. Temps got down to 25° but everything made it through OK. Thanks to our wonderful crew and all the people we consulted with including farm member and meteorologist Dave Hayes and Ben's mentor @michaeldocter50--what would we do without you?!?! 💛
We are SO excited to introduce our newest member-o We are SO excited to introduce our newest member-owner of our co-op, Craig Lavarreda! As the Real Pickles production manager, Craig keeps systems running smoothly and well-coordinated. He says, "I am excited to be part of a group with the same commitment, working towards the same goal and being part of the collective decision making.”. As a worker co-operative, Real Pickles is preserving our strong social mission, empowering our staff to direct the future of our business, and creating good local jobs with shared profits. We are proud to be part of a movement to build and strengthen democratic economies in our community and beyond. 

#RealPickles #WorkerOwner #Coop
This Thursday, join a workshop with Franklin Commu This Thursday, join a workshop with Franklin Community Co-ops, "Farm to Fermentation" with Real Pickles' very own Katie Korby and Kate Hunter! Learn about the importance of local organic farms and soil health and their connection to fermentation and a healthy gut microbiome. Katie will demonstrate a quick, spring time ferment in this informative and fun workshop! Thursday May 18th 6-7:30 170 Main St. Greenfield and online! Check bio for Zoom link on Thursday. 
#RealPickles #Fermentation #soilhealth #organic #northeastgrown #localfood
The pickle folks are so happy to be eating lunch i The pickle folks are so happy to be eating lunch in the sun! Enjoy the weather this weekend everyone! 😎
We think of Mother's Day as a time to celebrate an We think of Mother's Day as a time to celebrate and reflect on the role models in our lives.  If you are celebrating with a meal, consider this recipe where you can pile on your favorite Real Pickles ferments! This Garden Pilaf recipe is beautiful as a side or a main dish, plus it's loaded with flavor and packed with nutrients. Recipe link in bio.

#MothersDay #recipe #RealPickles #ferments #salad #organic

Footer

Contact

311 Wells St
Greenfield, MA 01301
(413) 774-2600
info@realpickles.com

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Join Our Email List!

Co-operative Enterprise Logo
USDA Certified Organic
Good Food Awards Winner
NOFA Mass member badge

Site Design by Ajitate · Photography by Valley Lightworks, Clare Barboza and others · Artwork by Emi Lynn Holler
Real Pickles® © 2023