Parsnip, Cauliflower, Carrot Lacto-Ferment - Made Sep 21/23

 

- 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped chard stems

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

- 1/2 a head of cauliflower chopped
- 3 large carrots coarsely grated
- 2 med./small onions chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 5 parsnips coarsely grated

- about 2/3 of a cup of pumpkin (squash) pulp minced

- 4 leaves of horseradish & a small bunch of parsley from my garden finely chopped

- 1/2 of a 6 inch diameter green cabbage chopped finely

- 3 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

This is a BIG experiment...  The parsnips are last years stock and far too strongly flavored for me to digest when I use them in my meals.  I'm hoping that once they are fermented and therefore partially digested that I'll be able to digest them myself... The horseradish is also experimental... It isn't growing so well in my new garden.  We've had a wetter than normal summer and I think it's being attacked by a fungus that likes these leaves.  I'm eating them fresh anyway and they seem to be OK... but I'm not sure if they will be OK in a ferment...  I HATE to throw out food... so we'll see how this works... Maybe I've just wasted a lot of what would have been good food, trying to make use of these questionable ingredients..  

In any case, I've mixed everything together; then firmly packed it into 4 liter & one 500 ml. mason jars, filled to the shoulder. I left them in my warmish cupboard for 3 days.   They were fermenting well, so I  transferred them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...  I gave them a taste too... and they seem to be OK... so I think I haven't wasted any food with this experiment...