Mainly Onion & Leek Lacto-Ferment - made Oct. 19/24

 

- 19 med. onions diced

- 2 large leeks white and green part chopped

- 2 large carrots coarsely grated

- 2 med. rutabaga coarsely grated 

- 30 leaves and stems of fresh sorel from my garden chopped

- 1 smallish green cabbage (2 3/4 lb.) chopped finely

- 5 Tbsp of Himalayan pink salt

I've REALLY enjoyed the onions I've fermented each year...  They have been especially useful in the spring and summer when the onions I could buy weren't so "good"... so this year I'm doing it again... a little differently though... I've used leeks again but added a little rutabaga and carrot and again used the sorrel leaves (which has grown HUGE in my new garden).  I've also used a whole small green cabbage instead of just a few leaves... I find I'm not using cabbage quickly enough, so I think from now on I'll be buying what I think will be the right size to use whole for a single ferment...  

I packed the mix firmly to  just below the shoulder of 8 liter mason jars, then left them beside my hot water heater to begin their fermentation process.  This mix has taken FOREVER to strongly ferment... After leaving the jars for more than 10 days, I finally decided I wasn't going to use these for a few months so it would be OK if they were SLOW.... and moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten anyway...  However, I've learned something... Fermentation seems to require a temperature above about 21 degrees Celsius to proceed quickly.  I had that when I began fermenting this batch, and I almost moved them to the fridge after 3 days... but because I hadn't filled the jars as full as I usually do, there was plenty of head room available for expansion... so I left them... and the temperature dropped... It wasn't cold in my apartment, but it was mostly between 18 and 19 degrees Celsius and it just didn't seem to be warm enough...  As soon as the temperature climbed above 20 degrees Celsius they fermented more rapidly again...  Since the floor around my hot water heater wasn't warm, I also moved them to around the top and this supplied a little more heat... Well... now I know... I need to make SURE they are warm enough!!!