Oat, Bean & Vegetable Lacto-Ferment - Made Oct 6/25

- 2 cups Hulless Oat Groats

- 1 1/4 cups of dried black turtle beans

- 3/4 cup of dried adzuki beans

- 3 med./small yellow cooking onions chopped

- 4 cloves of garlic, the last I have left from last year, minced

- 1 bunch of celery - stalks & leaves chopped

- 3 med. chiogga beets chopped in the food processor

- 34 fresh sorrel and 4 chard leaves & stems  from my garden chopped

- 1/2  a  2 lb. head of cauliflower chopped

- 1 small green cabbage (2 lb.) chopped finely

- 3 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

It's been awhile since I made a ferment - almost a year... My body asked me to cut one meal from my diet entirely and reduce my intake of salt as well as of fruit... so I've been slowly eating my way through my large stockpile of ferments...  I'm making this one because I don't have any of my breakfast, which has now become brunch... complete protein ferments left (one that includes both grain & legumes)... I've reduced the salt and used less water to soak the beans and oats for this one too... We'll see how that works...  It will still be some time before I do another ferment, as I still have quite a few from my previous batches left to eat...

Like the last few times, I tried to reduce my cooking time and therefore my use of electricity by soaking the  beans overnight first and then chopping them in my food processor... I  also soaked the oat groats over night... The oat mix was then soft enough to use without needing to be cooked. Like I did for my last ferment like this,  I used my food processor to chop the 3 beets as well as the beans ....It seems  I can omit cooking entirely...  I then mixed everything together, filling 6 liter mason jars packed firmly to the shoulder...  I

This mix fermented unbelievable quickly!!!  I left them to rest covered on top of my hot water heater  for only a day...  when they exploded out of their jars and just pressing them back down didn't arrest their speed... so I moved them to the fridge, with a tray underneath in case even the colder environment didn't slow them down sufficiently.  Here they can stabilize and be eaten... later...  As an aside... the amount of salt tastes MUCH better for me now and there was no shortage of liquid in the mix for the initial ferment, but I did need to add a little water to each jar after they'd been fermenting for about a month...

Sweet Pepper, Celery Vegetable Medley Lacto-Ferment - Made Jul 15/24

 

- 1 large bunch of celery with leaves chopped

- 3 cups of frozen chopped cauliflower

- 1 sweet potato (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated

- 7 sweet orange, yellow & green peppers chopped

- 3 meal sized pieces of pumpkin - skin finely grated and flesh diced

- 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped fennel leaves

- 20 sorrel leaves finely chopped

- 1 med. onion chopped

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 4 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 4 leaves of red cabbage chopped finely

- 3 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together; then firmly packed it into 5 liter mason jars, filled to the shoulder and one partially filled 500 ml. jar. I think this has been my fastest ferment ever...  Probably due to the very hot humid weather we've been having. They sat beside my hot water heater for less than a day before it was clear they were fermenting well so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... 

Yam, Cauliflower & Red Cabbage Lacto-Ferment - Made Oct 27/23

- 4 leaves of red cabbage chopped finely

- 1 leaf of green cabbage chopped finely

- 1 1/2 cups of frozen zucchini chopped

- 2 med. onions chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 3 large sweet potatoes (my parents called them yams), shredded

- 6" diameter head of cauliflower chopped finely

- 18 sorrel leaves with stems from my garden chopped

- stems & leaves from about 20 kohlrabi chopped 

- 3 3/4 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

Using both of my large glass bowls, I was able to mix everything together.  After stirring it well, I let it sit for a few minutes to warm, before transferring it to 5 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in a warm corner by my hot water heater for only 2 days before I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.... 

Parsnip, Cauliflower, Celery & Yam Lacto-Ferment - made Sep 25/23

 

- 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped chard stems

- 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb 

- 1/2 a head of cauliflower chopped
- 1 VERY large sweet potato (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated
- 2 med./small onions chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 5 fairly large parsnips coarsely grated

- 1 bunch of celery with leaves chopped

- 4 leaves of horseradish & 6 sorrel leaves & stems from my garden finely chopped

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

- 3 1/2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

This continues my BIG experiment...  I still have more of last year's parsnips to use up... I tasted the last batch and it seems to be OK, so I'm using more of them this way... I still have enough left for 1 more batch of something... so they're going to show up one last time.. some time soon...

For this time, I mixed everything together; then firmly packed it into 5 liter  mason jars, filled to a little below the shoulder. I left them in my warmish cupboard for 3 days, as I could see they were fermenting well, I transferred them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... 

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...

Pea, Bean & Oats Lacto-Ferment - Made Aug 12/23

 

- 1  cup dried Speckled Peas

- 1/2 cup of dried Adzuki Beans

- 1 1/4 cups dried Black-eyed Peas
- 2 cups Hulless Oat Groats

- 3/4 cup Oat Flakes

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

- 1 med. yellow cooking onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 2 meal-sized pieces of frozen squash - flesh chopped & skin grated finely

- about 1 cup of chopped frozen chard leaves from my garden

- 5 stalks of parsley leaves from my garden

- 1 orange cauliflower chopped finely

- 2 cups of frozen chard stems

- 2 cups chopped frozen rhubarb

- 1/2 a cucumber diced

- 7 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 4 1/2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

I cooked the peas with the beans, but  the oats separately... the peas & beans for about 2 1/2 hours and the oat groats for 1 hour, adding the flakes for the last 20 minutes of cooking time...  I mixed all of the other ingredients together except the cabbage. I then added the cooked pea/bean mix which I mashed to make a firm paste and the cooked oats to this mixture,  adding the cabbage last after the whole mix had cooled to just warm. The mix filled 6 liter mason jars packed firmly just to the shoulder...I left them in a cupboard for only 1 1/2 days.  At this point, I could see they were fermenting well, so Il moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

 

Bean & Barley Lacto-Ferment - Made Jul 30/22

 

- 1 cup dried Pinto beans

- 1 cup dried Adzuki beans
- 1 1/4 cup Pot Barley

- 3/4 cup Hulless Barley

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

- 1 med. yellow cooking onion chopped

- 1 small red onion chopped

- 6 smallish red beets coarsely grated

- 2 large cloves of garlic minced

- 2 meal sized pieces of squash- flesh diced and skin finely grated

- about 3 cups of chopped sorrel leaves from my garden

- 1 bunch of celery chopped

- 2 cups of finely chopped cauliflower

- what was left of a head of green cabbage (about 4" x 1")chopped finely

- 4 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

This time I cooked the beans and barley separately... the beans for about 2 1/2 hours and the barley for 1 hour.  I mixed all of the other ingredients together except the cabbage. I then added the cooked beans which I mashed to make a firm paste and the cooked barley to this mixture,  adding the cabbage last after the whole mix had cooled to just warm. The mix filled 6 liter mason jars packed firmly just to the shoulder... After spending 5 days in my warm cupboard over my stove I could finally see they were fermenting well (it took longer than I expected for some reason) so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Pea Lacto-Ferment Made June 21/21

- 3/4 cup dried Speckled peas

- 3/4 cup dried Dwarf Grey Sugar peas

- 1 cup dried Green Split peas

- 3 pieces - each approx. 1 1/2" square - kombu crumbled

- 1 med./large onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 1/2 a med./large cauliflower chopped finely

- approx. 1 cup of chopped frozen parsley leaves

- 2 large horseradish leaves chopped finely

- approx. 2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 2 pieces of frozen squash - skin grated finely and flesh chopped finely

- 2  Tbsp. of Himalayan pink salt

- 5 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

I cooked the peas together for about 3 hours, until they were soft & tender. before mashing them into a paste.  I then added the rest of the ingredients,  except the cabbage, to the pea paste, adding the cabbage last, after the mixture had cooled to just warm and NOT hot. I mixed everything together thoroughly and packed it into 3 liter and one 500 ml.mason jars filled to the shoulder.  These fermented VERY quickly, spending only a little more than a day in the cupboard over my stove, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten at this point. 

Cauliflower, Squash, Chard Stem Lacto-Ferment - Made May 31/21

 

- 6 small leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

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

- approx. 2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 2 small/med onions chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

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

- 1/2 a med./large cauliflower chopped finely

- approx. 1 cup of chopped frozen parsley leaves, a few stems of sorrel & a stalk of lovage chopped

- 2 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together, then packed it into 4 liter mason jars, filled to the shoulder...  This mix starts QUITE cold with so many frozen things included, so it may be slow to ferment even with the WARM weather forecasted for the next week...  In the end they stayed in the cupboard over my stove for 3 days... at which time they were clearly fermenting well,  so I moved them to the refrigerator to stabilize and be eaten... 

Update:  I didn't stant eating this until the beginning of Oct./21, four months after making it.. Strangely it is a very mild ferment and the vegetables have retained their crunch... I don't know why...

Fennel, Cauliflower & Pepper Lacto-Ferment - Made May 28/21

- most of a large zip-lock bag of chopped fennel

- 1/2 a med/large cauliflower chopped finely

- 1 small slice of pineapple chopped

- 10 slices of frozen cucumber diced

- 3 sweet red peppers chopped
- 1 med./large onion chopped

- 2 Tbsp of whole fennel seeds crushed lightly with a mortar and pestle 

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 4 full stems of sweet cicely with leaves & flowers finely chopped

- 2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 1/2 a small green cabbage (about 4" in diameter) 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 cupboard over my stove for 2 and 1/2 days, when I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved  them to the fridge to stabilize... 

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... 

Pea & Bean with Cauliflower & Greens Lacto-Ferment Made Oct 14/20

- 3/4 cup dried Speckled peas
- 3/4 cup dried Pinto beans

- 1/2 cup dried Adzuki beans
- 1/2 cup dried Oregon Giant peas

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

- 1 med. onion chopped

- 1/4  rounded tsp of garlic powder (I didn't have fresh garlic so I tried this...)

- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt

-  a small bunch of celery & a small bunch of parsley leaves (both from my garden) chopped

- 1 medium sized horseradish leaf chopped finely

- 4 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely
- 1 sweet potato (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated

- 1 small head of cauliflower chopped

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

I  cooked the peas and beans for about 4 hours, until there was only a little water left and they were tender.   These took an extra ordinarily long time to cook... I don't know if the addition of the kombu helps to shorten the cooking time, or if beans & peas don't cook well together... I'll experiment and see...  When they were finally soft, I mashed both together to make a fairly firm paste.   As I understand much of kombu's nutritional value is lost with cooking, I did not cook it with the peas and beans this time.  Instead it was mixed with the rest of the ingredients and except for the cabbage these were all added to the pea/bean mix when it had cooled somewhat .  I added the cabbage on its own, last when the mixture was just warm (NOT hot).  After mixing it well, I packed it into three one liter and  one 500 ml. mason jars filled to the shoulder .  I left them in my warm cupboard over my stove for 2 1/2 days when I could clearly see they were fermenting well and 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...  

Celery/Rutabaga/Cranberry Lacto-Ferment: made Sun Aug 23/15

- 14 wild apples chopped - approx 4 cups

- 1 1/2 heads of cauliflower finely chopped

- 3 pkg. frozen cranberries cut in half

- 9 stalks non-organic celery chopped

- 4 small slices of frozen squash chopped ( skins minced)

- 1 med onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 3 leaves of a small non-organic cabbage chopped finely 

- 1 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

- 2 generous Tbsp. of the liquid from my cucumber/zucchini mix as a starter

- 1 tsp of desiccated coconut added to each jar

I mixed everything together; completely filling both of my large glass bowls.  I mashed it down best I could then let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to 4 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard to ferment for 3 days, before transferring them to the fridge to stabilize and moving them to the basement... I wanted to add 2 Tbsp (or maybe a little more) of the coconut to the mix, but thought it wouldn't be liquid enough.  However, once I'd packed it I could see there was plenty of liquid, so I added the coconut and mixed it in best I could...  Maybe add a little more after I've eaten some and can mix better if necessary...