If you’re looking for locally grown and prepared sauerkraut or kimchi, keep your eyes peeled for Hosta Hill products, courtesy of Maddie Elling and Abe Hunrichs. The young couple rents a kitchen from Elling’s parents, and grows their ingredients on 1 ½ acres of a farm on Division Street in Great Barrington owned by Rachel Fletcher.
They grow most of the vegetables for their sauerkraut and kimchi, including red and green cabbage, Napa cabbage, carrots, daikon radishes, onions, garlic, and hot peppers. The couple starts their seeds in a greenhouse on the property where they live in West Stockbridge.
Elling and Hunrichs also buy from local farms, but they are now experimenting with plots of soybeans for their tempeh, and with cover crops of rye and oats. Eventually they hope to grow everything they need for their line of prepared food.
The couple participates in the Great Barrington, West Stockbridge, and Northampton farmers markets, and have branched out to include Boston’s Union Square Market on Saturdays. In just three years the business has grown large enough to contemplate using distributors for Boston and New York City.
For this kid who grew up in Des Moines, the notion of eating kimchi or curried kraut is…well… exotic. But then one learns that kimchi is the Korean version of sauerkraut, and what middle American doesn’t love sauerkraut? True, kimchi is spicier than the American version and typically includes daikon radishes, only recently familiar to mainstream eaters. But it’s savory and satisfying. There’s a bit of a bite, just enough to amuse and make you want some more.
The couple developed their own recipes through extensive experimentation and detailed research into the Korean condiment. They ferment their kimchi for three-four weeks. Whatever they’re doing, it works since their kimchi recently won an award in the pickle category of The Good Food Awards.
Hosta Hill produces seasonal varieties, so when you see them at the farmers market now, they’ll have ramp kraut, a winsome mix of two very different cultures. Their other major product is tempeh, a cultured soybean patty traditional to Indonesia.
When Elling graduated from Monument Mountain High School in 2006 she took advantage of WWOOF (Wordwide Opportunities on Organic Farms), which provides an international network of travel to those willing to work on sustainable farms in many parts of the world. The participants trade their labor for educational opportunities. Elling worked at homesteads in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Costa Rica.
After her travels, Elling worked for Ira Grable at Berkshire Blue Cheese, selling his product at the Great Barrington farmers market. Her experience there helped her understand the opportunities available at local farmers markets.
Hunrichs comes from California. He and Elling met in 2010, and a year later started their farm called Hosta Hill on her parents’ property. The two started making all sorts of food, brewing their own beer, raising pigs and turkeys, and in general sorting out what food opportunities were most enjoyable for them.
They quickly started producing sauerkraut, their Crimson Kraut, and one type of tempeh. Today, they have one part-time employee, and an extra person to help over the busy summer.
Currently the couple delivers their products to stores, cafes, and restaurants from the Berkshires to Boston. Their products are unusual, and have enjoyed popularity with wholesale and retail customers.
Elling is on the board of the Great Barrington Farmers Market. Her task on that committee is editing their web site. Hosta Hill is a member Berkshire Grown, CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture), and the Good Food Merchants Guild based in California. She appreciates the networking events sponsored by Berkshire Grown from which her company has developed many accounts.
Unlike many farmers, the couple does not have an off season because they produce their products all year long, selling at winter farmers markets and wholesale. As Elling says, “Buying our products is not just for consumption — it’s an investment in local agriculture and business.” This year they are getting a cultivating tractor to make their operation more efficient.
But they both love to have their hands in the dirt, a quality important to farmers.
For the past two years, they have been working with friends at the Abode Farm CSA in New Lebanon, N.Y., growing vegetables for them in exchange for help with their gardening. Like many new farmers, they are growing slowly but steadily. And for enthusiasts of kimchi and tempeh, that’s very good news.
