Yam, Beet Apple, Cucumber Lacto-Ferment - Made Dec 10/22

 

- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of chopped frozen sorrel leaves & stems

- 2 med. sweet potatoes (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated

- approx. 1 1/2 cups of finely chopped frozen sliced yams

- 1/2 a green cabbage (about 6" in diameter) finely chopped

- 1 large onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 med. red beets coarsely grated

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

- approx. 3 cups of "wild" apples cored and chopped

- 2 Tbsp of Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together... It  filled 4 liter mason jars firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them loosely covered  by a cardboard box in front of a rad for 3 1/2 days.  At this point I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.

Pepper, Fennel, Carrot & Rutabaga Lacto-Ferment - Made Dec. 3/22

 

- 2 large carrots coarsely grated

- 2 med. rutabaga coarsely grated

- 1 large onion chopped

- approx. 3 cups of cored & chopped frozen "wild" apples

- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of chopped frozen orange & yellow sweet peppers 

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of chopped frozen sorrel leaves & stems

- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of chopped frozen fennel bulbs & leaves

- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut

- 1/2 of a small green cabbage about 5" in diameter chopped finely

- 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp. Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together; then firmly packed it into 5 liter mason jars  filled to the shoulder. I'll leave these either in my cupboard over my stove or covered in front of a rad.., I ended up leaving them in front of a rad as my cupboard was clearly not warm enough especially as the mix was already SO cold from all the frozen ingredients...  After 4 days I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... 

Fennel, Rutabaga & Apple Lacto-Ferment - Made Oct 27/22

 

- 8 med. wild apples chopped - approx 3 cups

- 1/2 a large zip/lock bag of frozen chopped fennel with leaves

- 1 large rutabaga coarsely grated
- 1 med./large carrot coarsely grated
- 40 chopped sorrel leaves with stems from my garden 

- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 Tbsp of whole fennel seeds crushed

- 3 small cloves of garlic minced

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

- 2 large leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

I mixed everything together; then firmly packed it into 4 liter mason jars.  They're filled a little lower than usual, to just below the shoulder.  After 3 days in my "warm cupboard over my stove, I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... 

Onion Lacto-ferment - Made Sept. 21/22

 

- 13 Med. onions diced

- 1/2 of  a large zip-lock bag of chopped frozen Egyptian Walking Onions from my garden 

- 8 small/med. "wild" apples cored and chopped

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

- the remainder of a green cabbage I've been using for awhile - about 3" in diameter chopped finely

- 2 Tbsp + 2 tsp. of Himalayan pink salt

I REALLY enjoyed the 2 batches of fermented onions I did last year...  They were 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 with Egyptian Walking Onions instead of Leeks and the addition of a few apples and sorrel...  The Egyptian Walking Onions have a wonderful onion flavor, but tend to be quite fibrous because it isn't practical to try to separate and peel the cloves which are about the size of a typical garlic.  I usually chop them finely with their peel, freeze them and then cook them with my meals and they work well this way... We'll see how they ferment...  The Walking Onions fermented well... but I won't be using them in the future because I didn't have room to plant them in my new garden...

I packed the mix firmly to the shoulder of 4 liter mason jars, then left them in the "warm" cupboard over my stove to begin their fermentation process.  With the dip in temperature that we've had, my warm cupboard wasn't so warm... so they've stayed there for a week.  However, they are now fermenting well, so I've moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

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.

Yam, Rutabaga, Fennel Lacto-Ferment - Made Mar 4 /22

- approx. 2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 8 med/small "wild" apples chopped (approx 2 cups)
- 8 slices of frozen  Zucchini chopped

- 3 small rutabaga coarsely grated

- 1/2 cup frozen chopped fennel leaves

- 1 cup chopped frozen chard leaves
- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of chopped frozen fennel bulbs
- 3 med. sweet potato (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated
- 1 medium/large onion chopped

- 2  garlic cloves minced

- 4 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 2  Tbsp + 2 tsp. Himalayan pink salt
- 2 Tbsp. fennel seeds  crushed

I mixed everything together, slowly because so many of the ingredients were frozen... I mixed the frozen things with the salt together first.  Then let this warm before adding the rest except the cabbage, which was added last when the mix had clearly thawed.  After mixing everything together well, I transferred the entire mix to  4 liter  mason jars, packed firmly to the shoulder. I left them covered by a cardboard box in front of one of my rads (my "warm cupboard" over my stove isn't so warm these days)  for 4 days when I could see they were fermenting well.  I moved them then to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Squash, Zucchini, Rutabaga & Apple Lacto-ferment - Made Jan 6/22

 

- 5 smallish leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of frozen zucchini chopped
- 1 1/2 cups (approximately) of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 2 smallish cooking onions chopped

- 1 large clove of garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups (approximately) of frozen chopped tree spinach

- 2 cups of chopped apples
- 2 med./small rutabaga coarsely grated
- 4 meal sized pieces of frozen winter squash flesh chopped and skin grated finely
- 2 Tbsp.  Himalayan pink salt plus 1/8 tsp. sprinkled on the top of each jar

I mixed everything together except the cabbage and then let it sit for a couple of hours to warm up... . When it had warmed a little, I added the cabbage & stirred everything well.  Then I transferred the mixture to 3 liter & one 750 ml. mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  After filling the jars I sprinkled the extra 1/8 tsp of salt on top of each jar.  I think they may ferment slowly as they start their fermenting process already quite cold from all the frozen ingredients and this is a precaution to keep mold from forming...  I left them covered by a cardboard box in front of one of my rads (my "warm" cupboard over my stove is no longer SO warm) for only 2 1/2 days.  At this point I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Zucchini, Chard Stems and Apple Lacto Ferment - Made Oct 3/21

- 1 large zip-lock bag of frozen zucchini chopped

- 1 large zip-lock bag of frozen chopped chard stems

- 2 med. carrots coarsely grated

- 1  med./large onion finely diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 20 small/med. "wild" apples cored and chopped

- 30 fresh sorrel leaves chopped

- 6 smallish leaves of green cabbage finely chopped

- 2 1/2 Tbsps Himalayan pink sea salt

I mixed everything together, then firmly packed it into 4 liter mason jars.  However, these were filled a little high (just above the shoulder) so I scooped out a large spoonful out of each jar and added this to a 125 ml. jar, filling it to about 1" from the rim... The other jars are now filled just to the shoulder, which should leave enough expansion room... I left them in my warm cupboard over my stove for about a week...  These fermented differently... Two of the jars fermented more quickly and were moved to the fridge before the week was up, but the other two were slower and were moved a little after a week.. The small jars always seem to ferment slower, so it was moved last.    They spent a little longer in the cupboard than usual.  I think because they started off SO cold and the weather is no longer hot, so the cupboard isn't quite so warm either... and  warmth REALLY makes a BIG difference!

Bean Lacto-Ferment - Made Sept. 17/21

 

- 1 1/4 cups dried black turtle beans cooked

- 1 1/4 cups dried adzuki beans cooked

- 4 small pieces of kombu seaweed (approx. 1 1/2" square) crumbled

- 1 leek green & white parts chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 5 stalks of celery chopped
- 1 large red beet coarsely grated
- 1 leaf of horseradish chopped finely

- 30 leaves of fresh sorrel chopped finely

- 10 "wild" apples cored and chopped

- 3 large leaves of green cabbage finely chopped

- 2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. Himalayan pink salt 

I added the beans to boiling water, cooking them until they were tender (about 2 1/2 hours).   Again this time I did not cook the kombu with the beans.  Instead it was mixed with the rest of the ingredients.  After mashing the beans with the water they'd cooked in,  I added this  paste to the rest of the ingredients, adding the cabbage last, after I'd mixed the other things together and the whole mixture was an even warm temperature (NOT hot)... I then packed it into four 1 liter mason jars  filled just above the shoulder.  They're a little full, but I think they'll be OK...   They weren't OK... after only a day and a half the mixture was exploding out of the jars... so I removed the excess, filling a 500 ml. jar a little more than half full... and then moved all of them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... 

Cranberry, Celery, Leek & Apple Lacto-Ferment - Made Sept. 8/21

 

- a little less than 2 cups dried cranberries chopped coarsely

- 1 bag (340 g) of frozen cranberries sliced in two
- green & white parts of one leek chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 5 large stalks of celery chopped

- 2 meal sized pieces of frozen squash - skin finely grated and flesh chopped
- 10 med. "wild" apples cored and diced

- 25 leaves of sorrel chopped

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

- 4 small leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

This uses the VERY last (I found one more small jar) of my dried cranberries sweetened with sugar...  I won't buy or use these again I'm SURE there's something added to them that prohibits fermentation and they are too sweet for me to use otherwise... This is the 3rd time I've used these. I've chosen ingredients that aren't very sweet to mix with them... We'll see how it works this time...  I've mixed everything together, making enough to fill 3 liter mason jars firmly packed to just below the shoulder ([plenty of expansion room if they need it). These spent 3 days in the warm cupboard over my stove.  At this time I could see they were fermenting well,so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.

Yam, Celery root (celeriac) & Radish Lacto-Ferment - made Feb 28 /21

- 1 large celery root (celeriac) coarsely grated

- 2 medium/large sweet potato (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated

- 2 med. red meat radishes coarsely grated

- 1 med/large  onion diced

- 8 med. "wild" apples cored and diced\

- 4 slices of frozen Italian zucchini diced

- approx 1 cup of chopped frozen celery leaves
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- approx. 2 1/2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- the remaining "heart" of a green cabbage - about 3 1/2" in diameter finely chopped

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together, then put it into 3 liter and 1 750 ml mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  Again, as a precaution in case this batch too is slow to ferment, I've added a little less than 1/4 tsp of extra salt to the top of each jar... I left them covered in front of a rad (my cupboard over my stove isn't too warm these days) for only 2 1/2 days...  As they were fermenting very well,  I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...  

Rutabaga, Rhubarb, Beet & Celery root (celeriac), Lacto-Ferment - Made Feb. 9/21

- approx. 2 cups of chopped frozen rhubarb

- 1 med/large rutabaga coarsely grated

- 5 slices (frozen) of a large Italian zucchini diced (approx 1 1/2 cups)

- 4 leaves of green cabbage finely chopped

- 1 medium/large onion diced
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

- 1 small celery root (celeriac) coarsely grated
- 4 med. red beets coarsely grated

- 8 med/small "wild" apples cored and diced

- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of frozen chopped chard (leafy greens) (approx. 1 1/2 cups)

- 2 Tbsp of Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together... filling 3 liter mason jars firmly packed to the shoulder & one 500 ml. jar 1/2 filled.  Since my "warm" cupboard over my stove isn't so warm these days, I put them covered in front of one of my rads to begin... It took awhile, but finally on Feb 16 they were fermenting strongly and could be moved to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... I think I won't have more of the problem with the mold that I talk about below now that they are fermenting well... full of beneficial bacteria and NO room left for mold... I hope!

Update: Feb. 13/21...  We've Had a week of VERY COLD weather, so even the place in front of my rad hasn't been so warm...  so this is fermenting slowly.  For the second time ever, I've also had a problem with mold...  Both batches that had this problem were slow to start fermenting.  The first one I thought was due to a fair amount of sugar in the mix, and this time the mixture started off VERY cold as it included a lot of frozen ingredients and the ambient temperature has been low which hasn't helped...  I've done what I did with the 1st batch that developed mold... I've scraped off the mold and added an extra 1/4 tsp. of salt to the top of each of the jars.  Hopefully this works this time just like it did last time... In the future I think if I have reason to believe a batch will be slow to begin fermenting, for whatever reason, I'll add the extra salt to the top of the jars just in case... The weather is also scheduled to get warmer over the next few days and the warmth REALLY seems to make a BIG difference!

Fennel & Yam Lacto-Ferment - Made Dec 29/20

- approx. 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 6 med/small "wild" apples chopped
- 8 slices of frozen Romanesco  Zucchini chopped
- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of chopped frozen fennel 
- 3 med. sweet potato (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated
- 1 medium onion chopped

- 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 4 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 1 1/2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt
- 2 Tbsp. fennel seeds 1 ground & 1 crushed

I mixed everything together, then transferred the mix to  3 liter  mason jars, packed firmly to the shoulder. I left them in my cupboard above the stove for a little more than a day, but I could see it just wasn't warm enough... so I covered the jars and placed them in front of one of my rads.  They only needed a day here for me to see they had fermented VERY well, so I've now moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Fennel, Chard Stem & Cauliflower Lacto-Ferment - Made Oct 28/20

- 6 med./large "wild" apples chopped - approx 2 1/2 cups

- most of a large zip-lock bag of fennel

- most of a large zip-lock bag of chopped chard stems 

- 1 med/small cauliflower chopped
- 2 large carrots coarsely grated
- 1 med./large onion chopped

- 2 Tbsp of "grocery store" whole fennel seeds ground

- 1/2 tsp of garlic powder

- 6 small leaves of chard finely chopped

- 4 full stems of sweet cicely leaves finely chopped

- 4 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together; then firmly packed it into 4 liter mason jars, filled to the shoulder. I left them in my warmish cupboard for 2 1/2 days when I could see they were fermenting well, then  transferred them to the fridge to stabilize... 

Cabbage, beet, Radish & Rhubarb Lacto-Ferment - Made Oct 28/20

- 5 med./large "wild" apples chopped

- approx 2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 1 green cabbage (about 5" in diameter) finely chopped

- 1 med./large onion diced
- 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
- 6 slices of frozen cucumber diced

- 1 med. chiogga beet coarsely grated

- 2 med. red meat radishes coarsely grated

- 20 sorrel leaves chopped finely

- 2 large horseradish leaves finely chopped

- 1 1/2 Tbsp of Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together... It fills 3 liter mason jars firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in my "warm" cupboard over my stove for 3 1/2 days, at which time I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... 

Cabbage, Zucchini, Apple & Leafy Greens Lacto-Ferment - Made Aug 20/20

- 1/2 of an Italian style Zucchini -- skin finely grated and the rest chopped

- 1 1/2 med. onions finely diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 1 green cabbage (about 5" in diameter) finely chopped

- 2 med. carrots coarsely grated

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

- approx. 1 cup of amaranth leaves (Callaloo) chopped

- 1 1/2 very large leaves of Horseradish chopped 

- 1 1/2 Tbsp Himalayan pink sea salt

I mixed everything together, then packed it into 3 liter mason jars, packed to  the shoulder. I only left these in my warm cupboard over my stove for 2 days as they fermented quite quickly with the warm weather we've been having.  I've now moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.... 

Squash, Cauliflower & Pepper Lacto-Ferment - Made Aug 17/20

- 1 red, 1 yellow & 1 orange bell pepper chopped

- 6 small leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

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

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

- 2 small/med onions chopped

- 3 small cloves of garlic minced

- 4 pieces of frozen squash - flesh chopped finely and skins grated finely

- 1 small cauliflower chopped

- 2 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together, then packed it into 4 liter mason jars, filled perfectly just to the shoulder...  I left them in the cupboard over my stove for only 2 days when it was clear they were fermenting well before moving them to the refrigerator to stabilize and be eaten...  

Apple/Pineapple/Cranberry Lacto-Ferment: made Dec. 2/19

- 5 med. "wild" apples cored and chopped

- 1 1/2 - 2 cups frozen minced pineapple

- 3 cups dried cranberries chopped coarsely
- 1 med. onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 med./small carrots coarsely grated
- 10 slices of frozen cucumber chopped

- 1 rounded Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

- 4 small leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

I mixed this all together.  It made enough to fill 2 liter mason jars firmly packed to just above the shoulder. I planned to leave them in the warm cupboard for 3 days or until I could see they were fermenting well, before moving them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.... However, I explain how this REALLY happened below...

I've made use of some leftovers for this one...  The cranberries I bought, not noticing that they were infused with sugar and they are TOO sweet for me.  The pineapple I minced and froze into ice-cubes thinking I'd add a little at a time to my meals, but I'm no longer feeling like I want to do this.  So, I've used both of these in this mix.  I'm hoping the sugar will get used by the fermenting bacteria so the final ferment will still have the cranberry flavor I like but be less sweet and it seemed appropriate to add the pineapple I wasn't using here too...  I tasted it fresh mixed and it does taste good... but still quite sweet which I expected.  We'll see what the final result is like down the road...

This is VERY slow to ferment.  Perhaps because my "warm" cupboard isn't so warm now, or maybe something preventing fermentation was added to the cranberries.  I don't think this is the case though, because I checked the current stock from the place where I bought them and nothing but cranberries and sugar are listed as ingredients... In any case after 3 days with NO sign of activity, I've added about 1 Tbsp. of the liquid from my corn/carrot/apple ferment which is quite lively to each jar and hope this will make a difference...  I also placed them under a box in front of one of my rads and then added 1/2 of a finely chopped cabbage leaf to each jar...  They still taste fine... They just aren't fermenting...  Well this is the SLOWEST ferment I've EVER done!  However, with the addition of the cabbage and starter and spending almost 3 weeks in a warmish place they are finally fermenting...  I haven't bothered moving them to the fridge to stabilize though because they certainly don't need to be slowed down!  Well it took 5 weeks before these were finally fermenting well enough to be moved to the fridge... I think it was the extra quantity of sugar in the cranberries that the lacto-fermenting bacteria had trouble digesting...  When I make this again I'll choose something other than the pineapple and apple to add as both of these are quite sweet too...