Bean & Barley Lacto-Ferment - Made Apr. 12 /22

 

- 2 cups dried Pinto beans
- 1 1/2 cups Pot Barley

- 1/2 cup Barley flakes

- 4 small pieces (approx. 1 1/2" by 1") of kombu seaweed broken up

- 1 med. onion chopped

- 2 med/large red beets coarsely grated

- 1 large clove of garlic minced

- 2 med carrots coarsely grated

- 1 1/2 cups frozen apple pieces

- about 1 cup of frozen chopped tree spinach leaves from my garden

- 10  - 1/2" slices of frozen cucumber chopped

- 2 cups of chopped frozen rhubarb

- 4 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 4 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

I  cooked the beans and barley together (a mistake) for about 3 hours, adding the barley flakes for the last 20 minutes of cooking.   I mixed them together to make a fairly firm paste.  However, I won't do this the same way again... The beans and the barley cooked at VERY different rates.  I should have cooked them separately.  As it is the barley absorbed all the water and the beans are cooked but still firm.  I used my biggest pot and couldn't add ANY more water, so I'm trusting the beans will soften a little more with fermentation.   The kombu was mixed with the rest of the ingredients and except for the cabbage these were all added to the bean/barley mix when it had cooled a little .  I added the cabbage  last when the mixture was just warm (NOT hot).  After mixing it well, I packed it into 6 one liter mason jars filled to the shoulder .  It makes a very pretty rose colored mixture with dark green specks... Having spent less than 3 days covered by a cardboard box in front of a rad (my "warm" cupboard over my stove isn't so warm these days) I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...  

Carrot, Rhubarb & Celery root (celeriac) Lacto-Ferment - Made Apr. 12/22

 

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

- 1 leek (both white & green parts) chopped

- 1 large clove of garlic minced

- approx. 1 1/2 cups of frozen "wild" apples chopped

- 5 med. carrots grated
- approx. 2 cups of chopped frozen rhubarb

- 1 med/large celery root (celeriac) grated

- 4 leaves of green cabbage finely chopped

- approx. 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped celery leaves from my garden

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together; except the cabbage, in my large glass bowl,  I mashed it down best I could, then I let it sit for awhile to warm, before adding the cabbage. After mixing the cabbage in well, I transferred it to 3 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  They only spent 2 1/2 days in front of a rad covered by a cardboard box.  At this point I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.

Chard Stem, Rhubarb & Celery root (celeriac) Lacto-Ferment - made Apr. 4/22

 

- approx 2 cups of chopped  frozen rhubarb

- approx 2 cups of frozen wild Apples chopped
- 2  large zip-lock bags of frozen chopped chard stems

- 5 leaves of green cabbage  finely chopped

- 1 med/large celery root (celeriac) coarsely grated

- 1 med/large onion chopped

- approx. 2 cups of chopped frozen tree spinach from my garden

- 2 cloves of Garlic minced

- 2 Tbsp pink Himalayan salt

I began mixing everything together, however, when so much of this mix was frozen, for ease of mixing I separated it, using both of my 2 large glass bowls -  1/2 of the mix in each bowl... except for the cabbage.  I let the mix sit for a few hours to warm before adding the cabbage.  It was still COLD when I added the cabbage but clearly NOT frozen, so I transferred it to 4 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  When the mix starts SO cold it may take a little longer to ferment...   After 4 days covered by a cardboard box in front of a rad, I could see they were fermenting well, so I transferred them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.