Ellie Goldstein is a farmer and co-owner of Smallholding Farm in Morganton, NC and Main Season Market and Brewery in Marion, NC. In 2020, Ellie was working in residential treatment and pursuing a masters in counseling. Daniel, her partner, was growing on a quarter acre in Alexander, NC, with sights set on providing high-quality produce to chefs and restaurants. When COVID-19 hit, Ellie lost her job and restaurants closed for the foreseeable future. She and Dan pivoted their small operation, moved to a larger growing space in Morganton, and birthed Smallholding Farm. A few years later, working with their friend Walter Kaelin, Ellie and Dan opened Main Season Market and Brewery in downtown Marion. Main Season is open Thursday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday to Monday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tell us more about the start of Smallholding Farm.
I personally love farmers markets and CSA community engagement into agriculture. [At the start of COVID-19], we couldn’t sell to restaurants—everything was closed—so we just applied to Weaverville and Mars Hill farmers markets and they both gave us a shot. From there, we were also invited to vend at East Asheville Tailgate Market. We outgrew that quarter acre so quickly doing all of these markets and a 30-member CSA.We couldn’t afford really much in Asheville and we wanted more land so we kept expanding the search and this sweet little area popped up. It’s kind of quirky because Dan moved to Morganton in 2015 to work on Blue Bird Farm, so he knew this area and knew this land is really amazing. Now, we are doing about an acre of vegetables, and year-round different livestock like layer chickens, meat chickens, and pigs.
What are some of your favorite things to grow and share with your customers?
For markets, I love being a consistent grower. We try to have carrots, radishes, turnips, and lettuce throughout winter, spring, and fall. I personally love and strive for early cucumbers, because that is my favorite. Dan really values our garlic and saving the seed for growing it out the next year. Bestsellers are definitely carrots, tomatoes, and broccoli. We do smaller-scale things that we love in our kitchen that don’t really wholesale, but sell at market like fennel, collards, a variety of kales, and kohlrabi. I like having color and I like teaching people that they can cook with things they don’t know about. I try to keep those going, and if it can pay for a little bit of the market table, then it’s worth it.
What keeps you farming?
I feel like the biggest one is our community. All of our friends have been established by working at the farmers markets, and feeling consistently that we are all in this together. I think that energy—we build off of each other. If there’s a week when we are like, “Oh, we made no money! But, we can go get a drink together and hang out.” That’s really important.
The other side is that farming is crucial to the community. We have to feed people, we have to nurture the land. I feel like that is my part, or my role, in this world. Since having a baby, I even feel like there is this core, maternal energy where I want my kids to grow up in this world versus not knowing where their food comes from.
How did Main Season Market + Brewery come about, and what is a hope or dream you have?
Dan and I were looking back at our business plan from around 2018, and in our five-year goal, I had put that I’d love to start a small market, brick-and-mortar, or a farm stand. Dan and I are both dreamers, and it was a baby dream back then. I’m just looking for some consistency in my life. Farming doesn’t feel very consistent sometimes, like week to week, or like mother nature. We are on her time. Having the market opportunity come up was like, okay, let’s see if this could be a format for Smallholding having consistent sales, or even having a backup relationship to financially support the farm. And, simultaneously, it’s another community engagement opportunity.
I also want to feed McDowell and Burke counties more than I feel Asheville right now, even though I love feeding Asheville. I had been looking for a brick-and-mortar in Morganton but after looking 25 miles around, this really sweet moment came where my friend’s mom is the owner of the building we are renting from. She has been our support and driving force in getting it up and running.
Walter, who we co-own Main Season with, was a CSA member for a couple years and he also worked at Fonta Flora Brewery when I was bartending there. He has been in our community and values brewing beer with local ingredients, including Smallholding Farm goods. The relationship and the style already worked so well, so when he moved to Marion, it was already this kismet moment of like, “Do we go in on this and make it happen?” An alcohol, wine, and bottle shop is a really good financial supplier and supporter for producing food, feeding our community, and being able to offer accessible goods. They go in tandem.
What kind of products are available at Main Season?
Right now, we are trying to keep it as local and high-quality as possible while also being consistent. Some of the things we are keeping in the shop are High Top Bread focaccia and cookies—they’re great, they’re delicious—along with Roots & Branches crackers, Two Stones Farm milled products, and Fermenti. We also have Three Sisters Cheese, owned by Aaron who used to own McDowell Local in the heart of downtown Marion, so it’s been nice to bring in Marion products that are literally down the street from us.
On top of that, another cool partnership we have is Howe’s Kitchen & Pantry. It’s a Marion catering and cooking company and they are Walter’s brother and sister-in-law. They use farm products and vegetables in their cooking so it brings that full circle to the market. We have been using Hedge Family Farm for their organic, no-spray strawberries every week—they are such a consistent hub for us. We have Wild East Farm’s crafts right now, and as we grow, we hope to be able to grow with them. Encompass Farm is about a 15-minute drive to Rutherford County—we have Vannah’s infused olive oils, spices, and salts, and eggs.