Carrot, & Apple Etc. Lacto-Ferment - Done Tues. Feb. 10/15

- 3/4 of a Granny Smith apple diced

- 3/4 of a Pink Lady apple diced 

- 6 slices of cucumber diced

- 1 medium non-organic onion diced

- 6 med.  carrots grated in the food processor

- 1/2 small celery root (celeriac) grated in the food processor

- 1/2 a small rutabaga grated in the food processor

- 1/3 cup raisins

- 1 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 2 generous Tbsp. of my #2 cabbage as a starter

 I mixed everything together, filling 2 liter mason jars to the shoulder, which I left in the cupboard for 3 days, before transferring them to the fridge...

Beans & Lentils Lacto-Ferment Done Done Tues. Feb. 10/15

- 1 cup dried adzuki beans cooked

- 1/3 cup brown lentils

- 2/3 cup red lentils

- 1 med.  non - organic onion diced

- 1/2 clove of garlic minced

- 1/4 granny smith apple diced

- 1/4 pink lady apple diced

- 4 pieces of frozen non-organic coconut finely diced

- 1 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 2 Tbsp. of my #2 cabbage as a starter

I soaked the beans overnight, then cooked them until there was only a little water left and they were tender.  I cooked the lentils separately in a small amount of water for 15 mins.  I mashed both together, then added the rest of the ingredients, mixed it all together and packed it into 2 liter mason jars  filled to about 2" from the rim.  I left them in the cupboard for 5 days before putting them in the fridge...

Celery Root & Rutabaga Lacto-Ferment - Done Mon. Dec. 15/14

- 4 med. wild apples diced 

- 5 slices of cucumber diced

- 1 medium non-organic onion diced

- 1 clove of garlic minced

-  juice and pulp from 1/2 non-organic lemon

- 1 scant Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 1 small celery root (celeriac)grated in the food processor

- 1/2 a med. rutabaga grated in the food processor

- 1 Tbsp. of my cucumber/apple mix as a starter

 I mixed everything together filling a liter mason jar, which I left in the cupboard for 2 days, before transferring it to the fridge...

Corn Relish with Cabbage Lacto-Ferment - Done Mon Dec. 15/14

- 1 package frozen non-organic corn

- 1 small red radish grated in food processor

- 1/2 a small head of cabbage shredded in the food processor

- 1/2 of a non-organic honeydew melon blended

- 1 large non-organic onion diced

- 1 clove of garlic minced

-  juice and pulp from 1/2 non-organic lemon

- 1 1/2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 3 heaping Tbsp of my cucumber/apple mix as a starter

I blended the melon & lemon together with the garlic, salt and some onion to make a watery mixture, then stirred everything together.  This made enough to fill 3 liter mason jars to the shoulder.   I left them in the cupboard for 2 days. I don't usually add a starter when I use cabbage, but this time when they weren't doing much after 2 days I felt it was necessary and added it... However, after this addition they REALLY took off, so I transferred them to the fridge after only one more day...

This didn't taste very good, so to one of my jars I added:

- 1 large slice of celery root (celeriac) grated

- 1 small slice of red beet grated

- 2 small slices of non-organic onion diced

- 2 large slices of frozen cucumber diced

I re-mixed everything together - left it in the cupboard for a couple of days... before putting it back in the fridge...

 to the other 2 jars I added:  Done Tues. Feb. 10/15

- 1/2 small celery root (celeriac) grated

-  1 med. parsnip grated

- 1 small carrot grated

- 1 small non-organic onion diced

- 1/2 clove of garlic minced

- 6 slices of frozen cucumber diced

I re-mixed everything together - It made enough to fill 3 liter jars to 2 1/2" from the rim.  I left them in the cupboard for 5 days... before putting them back in the fridge...

Squash Cabbage & Cucumber Lacto-Ferment - done Sun Dec. 14/14

- 1/2 Small Red Kiri Squash unpeeled, seeded and shredded in the food processor

- 4 med. wild Apples chopped

- 2 med non-organic onions chopped

- 1/2 a small cabbage sliced in the food processor

- 1 of one of my large zip-lock bags of cucumber chopped

- 1/2 a large red meat radish coarsely grated

- 2 Tbsp unrefined sea-salt

- 1 Tbsp of my Cucumber/Apple mix as a starter

I mixed everything together; completely filling my large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to 3 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 3 days.  I then transferred them to the fridge and once fermentation slowed I moved them down to the basement...

Cabbage Lacto-Ferment - done Sun Dec. 14/14

- 1  med. cabbage (a little more than 4" in diameter) shredded in food processor

- 1 medium non-organic onion chopped

- 1 med/large yellow carrot shredded in food processor

- 1 garlic clove minced

- 1/2  non-organic honeydew melon blended

- 1 1/2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

I mixed everything together; not quite filling my large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to  2 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cool cupboard for 3 days.  I then transferred them to the fridge and once fermentation slowed I moved them down to the basement...

Cucumber with Rutabaga Lacto-Ferment - done Mon. Dec. 8/14

- 1 med. non-organic onion chopped

- 1 slice of non-organic pineapple chopped

- 1 3/4" slice of non-organic rutabaga coarsely grated

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 8 plus cups of frozen cucumbers diced -- almost all of the contents of 1 of  my large zip-lock bags

- 1 1/2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 1 1/2 Tbsp of my cucumber apple mix as a starter

- 1/2  of a non-organic lemon -- juice and pulp

I mixed everything together except the starter and let it sit out until it was still cold, but thawed, then added the starter.  This made enough for 2 liter mason jars, filled to the shoulder.  I then left them in the cupboard for 9 days after they came up to room temperature, which took about a day, so they spent a total of 10 days in the cupboard...  They weren't very lively fermenters, so instead of putting them directly into the fridge, I just moved them to my cool lower cupboard for a few more days before moving them to the fridge ...  

Ginger Lacto-Ferment - Made May 27/16

- 1 large piece of non-organic ginger root finely chopped

- 1/4 tsp. pink salt

- 1/4 slice of pineapple finely chopped

- 2 tsp of the liquid from my cabbage/rutabaga mix as a starter

- 2 tsp organic goji berries finely chopped

- 1/2 a natural fig finely chopped

I chopped everything as finely as I could and then mixed it all together (except the starter and the salt) in my Cuisinart mini-prep to make a smooth paste, then added the salt and the starter...I packed it into a 250 ml. mason jar, filled to about 3/4" from the top and left it in the cupboard for 3 days... before moving it to the fridge...  I liked the consistency of this better than the one before where I shredded the ginger...

Ginger Lacto-Ferment - Made Dec. 22/15

- 1 large piece of non-organic ginger root finely chopped

- 3/4 tsp. pink salt

- 1 Tbsp of my carrot/apple mix

- 1 wedge of non-organic lemon finely chopped

- 2 tsp organic goji berries finely chopped

- 1 tsp organic currants finely chopped

I mixed everything together and packed it into a 250 ml. mason jar, which it filled almost to the top and left it in the cupboard for 4 days...  As there's only about 1/4" of headroom, I'm praying it doesn't overflow... It didn't...

Ginger Lacto-Ferment

- 2 large pieces of non-organic ginger root finely grated

- 1 1/4 tsp. pink salt

- 1 Tbsp of the liquid from my cucumber mix

- 1 small wild apple

- 1 wedge of non-organic lemon

- 2 tsp organic raisins

- 1 tsp organic goji berries

I blended the last 4 ingredients together with some of the juice from the grated ginger, then mixed everything together and packed it into a 500 ml. mason jar, which it filled to a little more than 1" from the top and left it in the cupboard for 6 days.  It looked like it was fermenting OK... so I moved it to the fridge

Cabbage & Cucumber Lacto-Ferment

- 1 small head of green non-organic cabbage (about 5" in diameter) chopped finely

- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of frozen cucumber chopped

- 1 med/large non-organic onion chopped

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 2 slices of non-organic pineapple chopped

- 1 Tbsp & 2 tsp. unrefined sea salt

I mixed everything but the cucumber and 2 tsp of salt together; completely filling my largest glass bowl, then mixed the other two items in my smaller bowl before combining them -- REALLY filling the largest glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to 2 liter & one 500 ml mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 4 & 5 days, (the jars seemed to ferment at different speeds) then put them in the fridge...

Radish & Beet Lacto-Ferment - Made Mar 8/15

- 2 1/2 red meat radishes shredded

- 1 med red beet & 4 med chiogga beets shredded

- 1/2 a large non-organic onion finely diced

- 1/2 small celery root (celeriac) shredded

- 1/2 Pink Lady apple diced

- 1 non-organic lime -- juice & pulp

- 5 slices frozen cucumber chopped

- 1 1/2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 3 Tbsp of water from the green chard mixture

I mixed everything together, then packed it into 2 liter mason jars, packed to  the shoulder. I left them for 4 days in the cupboard, before moving them to the fridge.  

Radish & Beet Lacto-Ferment

- 3 red meat radishes coarsely grated

- 1 red beet coarsely grated 

- 1 small non-organic onion finely diced

- 1/2 non-organic lemon -- juice & pulp

- 3 slices frozen cucumber chopped

- 1 clove of garlic finely minced

- 1 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 1-2 Tbsp. of my #1 cucumber mix as a starter

On the 8th day I added:

- 3 Tbsp of my #2 cucumber mix

On the 9th day I added:

- 4 med. wild apples chopped

- 1 small red beet coursely grated

- 1 red meat radish coursely grated

- 2 slices non-organic onion finely diced

- 1 tsp unrefined sea salt

I mixed everything together, then packed it into 1 liter mason jar and 1 500 ml. jar.  Both packed to just below the shoulder. I left them for 8 days in the cupboard.  However it was clear this wasn't fermenting at all, so I added 1 Tbsp. of my cucumber mix to the small jar and 2 Tbsp. to the large jar, packed them down and left them  in the cupboard for 1 more day.  The next day (the 9th day) I added the other things which filled 2 liter mason jars to the shoulder.  I then left them in the warm cupboard for a week before moving them to the fridge... They were fine - they just fermented VERY slowly...

Cucumber with Apple Lacto-Ferment

- 1 med. non-organic onion chopped

- 4 med. wild apples chopped

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 8 plus cups of frozen cucumbers diced -- almost all of the contents of 1 of  my large zip-lock bags

- 1 1/2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 1 Tbsp of my cucumber mix as a starter

- 1/2 of a non-organic lemon -- juice and pulp

I mixed everything together except the starter and let it sit out until it was still cold, but thawed, then added the starter.  This made enough for 2 liter mason jars, filled to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 4 days after they came up to room temperature, which took about a day, so they spent a total of 5 days in the cupboard...  After this I put them in the fridge...  

Lentils Lacto-Ferment...

- 1 3/4 cup large green lentils ( I think 1 1/2 cups would have been the right amount for 1 liter jar)

- 1 slice of red beet quartered

- 2 1/2 slices of a med. non-organic onion diced

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 3 Tbsp desiccated coconut ground

- 2 tsp. unrefined sea salt

- 2 Tbsp. of my #1 cucumber mix as a starter

- 1 non-organic lemon -- juice & pulp

- 1/2 cup water in addition to what was left in the pot after cooking the lentils.

I cooked the lentils together with the slice of beet with just enough water to cover until there was only a little water left and the lentils were tender.   This was about 20 mins.  After this I left it covered on the stove to cool and soak up the small amount of liquid remaining.  I then removed the beet, mashed the lentils, then added the rest of the ingredients; mixed it all together and packed it into jars.  It filled a 1 liter and a 500 ml. jar to about 1 3/4" from the rim.  I left them in the cupboard for 3 days and then refrigerated...  These fermented more slowly than the other bean mixtures...

Cabbage Lacto-Ferment...

- 1 head of green & red savoy cabbage (about 7" in diameter) chopped

plus a small amount of the  cabbage left from before... (This kind of savoy cabbage is similar in texture to the regular cabbage and NOT like the regular savoy cabbage, which is softer and more tender ...

- 1 large parsnip finely grated

- 1 med/large non-organic onion chopped

- 7 medium wild apples cored & chopped

- 2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

I mixed everything together; completely filling my 2 large glass bowls.  I mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to 3 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 3 1/4 days, then put them in the fridge...

Parsnip/Carrot/Apple Lacto-Ferment

- 2 med. carrots finely grated -- I used one orange & one yellow

- 1 1/2 large parsnips finely grated

- 3 med. wild apples cored & chopped

- 1/2 non-organic onion finely chopped

- 1 non-organic lemon -- juice & pulp

- 2 rounded tsp. unrefined sea salt

I mixed this together then packed it into my recently vacated & unwashed jar of cucumber ferment.  There was maybe 1/2 to 1 Tbsp. of the old mixture left in the jar, so I've used that as a starter...  This packed the 1 liter jar to just above the shoulder.  I left it in the warm cupboard for 3 1/4 days, then put it in the fridge...

Apples & Coconut Lacto-Ferment

wild apples diced - this was one of my first attempts so I didn't record how many, but I know I used a lot...

1/2 cup desicated coconut

1 non-organic lemon juice & pulp

1 slice non-organic pineapple diced

1 Tbsp unrefined sea salt 

1Tbsp kefir water

I stirred everything together, except the kefir water, packed it to the shoulder of a 1 liter mason jar then added the kefir water, then left it in the cupboard...

Again I decided this was too salty  So after 2 days in the cupboard, when I could see it was fermenting very well I added:

more wild apples diced

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

1  non-organic lemon juice & pulp

1 slice non-organic pineapple diced

Repacked everything into 2 one liter mason jars, filled to the shoulder, added 2 Tbsp of water to the top of each jar (which wasn't needed as most of it leaked out), left them in the cupboard to ferment for another day.  I then packed them down into the liquid and put them in the fridge ... 

Decided it needed something more, so after eating some of it, I peeled and diced 2 non-organic kiwi for each jar, re-mixed everything together, re-vacuum packed the jars and put them back in the fridge...  Later I did another similar batch as follows:

apples with coconut #2

- 20 small - med. wild apples diced

- 6 Tbsp desiccated coconut

- 1 non-organic lemon juice & pulp

- a little more than 1/2 a small non-organic honey dew melon blended

- 1 Tbsp unrefined sea salt 

- 2 heaping Tbsp of my previous mix as a starter 

- 3 slices non-organic pineapple diced

This filled 2 liter mason jars to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 3 1/2 days.  After this I put them in the fridge...

Squash/Apple/Prune/Cranberry Lacto-Ferment

- 1/2 Small Red Kiri Squash unpeeled, seeded and chopped

- An equal quantity of Wild Apples chopped

- 1/2 package of Cranberries (frozen) chopped

- 9 Dried Prunes chopped

- 1/2 med non-organic onion chopped

- 4 leaves cabbage chopped

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 1 Tbsp unrefined sea-salt

- 2 Tbsp of my apple/coconut mixture as a starter

After mixing everything together, I mashed it down then I let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to 2 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  This mixture ended up being fairly dry, but I was reluctant to add liquid as they always seem to generate plenty once they get going.  So I'll let them sit for a few hours in the cupboard to see how they are, then assess...  They developed enough moisture, so I just left them be in the cupboard -- a warm one for a day and then a cooler cupboard for 3 days.  I then transferred them to the fridge,  After a few hours I decided I wanted to taste it to see if the squash worked at all and whether the skin left on was OK.  It needed something, so I decided to add approx. a Tbsp. of the liquid from my Cucumber mix and about the same amount of water to each jar.  I stirred this in best I could, then put them back in the fridge...

In addition to wishing I'd grated the squash I felt this was still missing something, so after eating about 1/3 of the mixture in one of the jars, I added the following to this jar only, which became:

Squash #1A:

- 5 med. wild apples chopped

- frozen cucumber -- (about 1& 1/2 large cucumbers)  chopped

- 1 med. to large non-organic onion chopped

- 1 tsp unrefined sea salt

- 1/2 of one jar of my original squash mix

This filled 2 liter jars to the shoulder.  I left them in the warm cupboard for 1 day plus about 6 hours, until they'd broken the seal and I could see they were fermenting well, I then put them both into the fridge...

Squash #1B: 

- 2 non-organic mangos chopped

- 1 med. wild apple cored

- juice and pulp of one non-organic small lemon blended with the apple

- 1 rounded tsp. unrefined sea salt

- 1 med/large turnip grated

- 1 med/large non-organic red onion finely chopped

- clove of garlic minced

- most of one jar of my original squash mix

I mixed everything together and packed it into 2 liter mason jars and a 500 ml. jar filled to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 4 days, then put them in the fridge...

Cabbage Lacto-Ferment...

- 1 med/large head of cabbage (about 5 1/2" in diameter) chopped

plus some of the summer cabbage from 2 weeks ago...

- 1/2 of a medium non-organic onion chopped

- 1 garlic clove minced

- 2  slices of non-organic pineapple finely chopped

- 1 1/2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

I mixed everything together; completely filling my large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to 2 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I  left them in the cupboard -- a warm one for a day and then a cooler cupboard for 3 days.  I then transferred them to the fridge before moving them down to the basement...

Celery & Beet Stems Lacto-Ferment

- 1 slice of cabbage chopped

- 1 small clove of garlic minced

- 1 1/2 bunches of celery stalks with a few leaves chopped

- 1 wedge of non-organic lemon - juice & pulp

- frozen stems from a bunch of beets - chopped

- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp non-refined salt

I mixed everything together, then packed it into two 1 liter mason jars and left them in the cupboard for 3 1/4 days, then refrigerated...  The jars are filled perfectly just to the shoulder.

Cabbage Lacto-Ferment...

- 1 large head of cabbage (about 6" in diameter) chopped

- 1/2 clove of garlic minced 

- 1 1/2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

I mixed everything together; completely filling my large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to  2 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 3 1/4 days, then refrigerated...

Mango Chutney Lacto-Ferment- my very first ferment...

3/4 of a non-organic mango chopped

1 - non-organic lime squeezed

1 - small piece of apple diced finely

a few frozen cranberries chopped

4 tsp. white sea salt

This made enough for a 500 ml. jar. I topped it with a small amount of sesame oil and let it ferment for a week.  I thought the sesame oil might provide an air lock...  It was very salty and the fermentation was slow... Perhaps the use of non-organic ingredients or my white sea salt had iodine added... or the sesame oil wasn't helpful... However, in retrospect I suspect this needed a starter and I didn't use one...

I used about 1/2 of this and then added:

1 - non-organic mango chopped

1/2" non-organic slice of pineapple diced finely

1 - med. wild apple cored and finely diced

- juice and pulp of one non-organic small lemon

1/4 -  3/8 cup frozen cranberries chopped

1 rounded tsp. unrefined sea salt

This filled a liter mason jar to the shoulder, fermented well and tasted good.

Corn Relish Lacto-Ferment (my 2nd batch)

- corn from 5 non-organic good-sized corn cobs

- 3 small celery stalks chopped

- 4 slices from a large Asiatic melon diced

- 1 medium red onion diced

- 2 large  fleurs d'ail chopped finely

- 1 small bunch of fresh parsley minced

- 1 small wild apple

- the 500 ml. of my first corn relish as a starter

-  juice and pulp from 1/2 non-organic lemon

- 1 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

I blended the apple and melon together with the salt and some onion to make a watery mixture, then stirred everything together.  This made enough to fill 3 liter mason jars to just below the shoulder.   I left them in a cupboard for a day plus a little and then re-refrigerated...

Chard Stems Lacto-Ferment

I cut chard stems into pieces, packing the red ones into a liter mason jar, they filled it to the top and the green stems into another jar the same size. The jar with the green stems was about 3/4 full.  I then filled them with water and left  them in the cupboard for a day. 

The next day, I drained off the water and refilled the jars with fresh water before putting them back in the cupboard...

The next day, I dissolved 1 tsp. of salt in 1 1/2 cups of water for each jar, packed the drained chard stems into the jars, poured the saline solution over and left them in the cupboard for another day, before moving them to the fridge.  These are supposed to be ready to eat in a month -- mid October...  They were ready and kept until late spring.  They might have kept longer, but I'd eaten them all by then... They were very crunchy and almost like fresh, so they were really better cooked a little when mixed with other cooked vegetables...

Hummus Lacto-Ferment (kind of...) #2

- 1 cup dried adzuki beans cooked --

- 5 Tbsp sesame seeds toasted

- 2 Tbsp sesame oil

- 1/4 cup water

- 1 clove garlic

- 1 small non-organic onion chopped finely

- 1 non-organic lemon -- juice & pulp

- a little less than 1 tsp. unrefined sea salt

- 2 Tbsp of the liquid from my #2 cucumber mix as a starter 

I blended the lemon, sesame seeds, oil, garlic and onion together in the blender with 2 Tbsp of the water, then mashed the beans and mixed everything together in a glass bowl, mixing in the starter after the rest had cooled to room temperature.   I packed the paste into a one liter mason jar, which I left it in the cupboard for 2 days, before putting it in the fridge...