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

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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.

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Meet Lavender! Lavender joined the Real Pickles pr Meet Lavender! Lavender joined the Real Pickles production team a little over a year ago and was recently promoted to assistant production manager. Lavender's experience in commercial kitchens has cultivated a love for large kitchen appliances. Their favorite tools at Real Pickles include a “Very Big Whisk” and a “Very Big Immersion Blender”! At Real Pickles, Lavender loves learning about worker co-operatives and ferments. They bring a great sense of humor, a strong work ethic and a curiosity that makes them a source of knowledge on many subjects. When they are not at Real Pickles, Lavender is learning to be ambidextrous and nurturing their love of prime numbers. We absolutely love having Lavender as part of the Real Pickles family!
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#MeetThePicklers #RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #fermentedandraw #fermented #peekbehindthemask #organic #pickles #kraut #coop #workerowned #fermentation
Video Repost from @iloveriverlandfarm • Riverla Video Repost from @iloveriverlandfarm 
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Riverland Farm has been an important farm partner of ours since 2002! Riverland is a 40-acre certified organic, women-run farm growing a diverse array of mixed vegetables and fruits along the Connecticut River in Sunderland, MA. The farm is run by Emily Landeck (in photo) and Meghan Arquin, who combine their love of cooking and sustainable organic farming practices to make their business a standout in the community and an important part of the local food system in western Massachusetts. They grow high-quality organic produce for the community and continue the ongoing work to maintain and improve the land that they farm. Riverland Farm keeps Real Pickles well-supplied with vegetables, herbs, and spices for the Organic Kimchi, as well as the Organic Sauerkraut, Organic Beets, Organic Red Cabbage, and Organic Ginger Carrots - seen here, germinating in that fertile river bottom soil! 🥕🥕🥕 

#featuredfarm #organic #northeastgrown #carrots #gingercarrots #kimchi #realpickles #womanfarmer #springiscoming
Meet Greg! If you are local to Western Mass or Sou Meet Greg! If you are local to Western Mass or Southern Vermont, you may have seen this masked face driving around in the Real Pickles van.  As a long time supporter and fan of Real Pickles, Greg joined the production team in 2015 and says he found an incredibly supportive culture. He became a worker-owner after a couple of years and has since taken on many new roles including serving up Real Pickles at events and in-store demos. His main focus these days is helping to manage shipping and receiving and making local deliveries to area co-ops and markets. Greg's upbeat energy is infectious and he can make anyone laugh! He misses meeting pickle lovers throughout the Northeast and is looking forward to the day he is able to be at events again, giving out samples and talking about fermentation and co-ops. In Greg's spare time he likes picnics, ukuleles, and bicycles ... and especially bicycle ukulele picnics! His favorite ferment is our organic kimchi piled on top of some crispy pan-fried tofu. We love that Greg is a part of the Real Pickles family! 

#MeetThePicklers #RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #fermentedandraw #fermented #peekbehindthemask #organic #pickles #kraut #coop #workerowned #fermentation
We love this Warm Winter Salad recipe and now is t We love this Warm Winter Salad recipe and now is the perfect time to enjoy it! Roasted roots and toasted pepitas mixed with warm greens and ferments. A healthy and delicious twist on comfort food. Check out the recipe on our website and show us your version of this seasonal salad!

#RealPickles #FermentedAndRaw #PackedWithAMission #Recipe #Vegan #Organic #WarmWinterSalad #Kraut 

photo by @clarebarboza tattoo by @benreigletattoos
To all of our customers, vendors, farmers, investo To all of our customers, vendors, farmers, investors, distributors, staff, owners, friends, neighbors and fellow fermenters - we love and appreciate you. Today, and everyday! 

#heartbeets #realpickles #fermented #beets #organic #love
Happy Friday! This week in our Meet the Picklers S Happy Friday! This week in our Meet the Picklers Series, we’re featuring K, who joined the production team last September. K loves the straightforward nature of working in the Real Pickles kitchen and especially the community of co-workers who K says often reveal themselves in comedic, compassionate and contemplative conversation. K is excited about the opportunity to participate in a sustainable food system and enjoys learning more about the enduring process of fermentation. When K is not at Real Pickles they are often immersed in artistic endeavors and exploring ways to develop new means of communicating shared experiences. In pre-COVID times K was involved in the world of live performance through movement and theater-based work. We love the creative energy and big heart that K brings to Real Pickles and are thrilled that they are part of our team! 

#MeetThePicklers #RealPickles #PackedWithAMission #fermentedandraw #fermented #peekbehindthemask #organic #pickles #kraut #coop#workerowned #fermentation

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Greenfield, MA 01301
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info@realpickles.com

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