Squash Cabbage & Celery Root Lacto-Ferment - done Dec. 1/16

- 6 pieces of frozen atlantic giant pumpkin (squash) chopped (approx. 3 1/2 cups)

- 5 med. wild Apples chopped

- 1 med/large non-organic onion chopped

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

- 6 slices of frozen cucumber chopped

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

- 1 1/2 Tbsp sea-salt

- 2 cloves of Garlic minced

I mixed everything together; completely filling my large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for a few minutes to warm, before transferring it to 3 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 4 days.  I then transferred them to the fridge and once fermentation slowed I moved them down to the basement...

Squash, Parsnip & Kohlrabi Lacto-Ferment - made Nov. 27/16

- 5 good sized pieces of frozen atlantic giant pumpkin (squash) chopped (approx. 2 1/2 cups )

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

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 1 med/large onion chopped

- 4 med. parsnips coarsely grated

- a little less than 1/2 a  large zip-lock bag of frozen kohlrabi chopped (approx. 3 1/2 cups) 
- 3 leaves of red cabbage finely chopped

- 1 1/2 Tbsp  sea-salt

I mixed everything together; completely filling my large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then. let it sit for awhile to warm up before transferring  the mixture to  3 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 4 days, before moving them to the fridge.... 

Peas & Pumpkin Lacto-Ferment - Done Nov 27/16

- 3/4 cup dried green peas

- 3/4 cup dried oregon giant peas

- 1 Tbsp  of green lentils

- 1 Tbsp of green split peas

- 2 Tbsp of yellow split peas

- 1 med.  non - organic onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 4 good sized pieces of frozen atlantic giant pumpkin (squash) chopped

- 4 slices of frozen cucumber diced

- the equivalent of 4 whole frozen wild apples chopped

- 3/4 Tbsp. sea salt

- 3 Tbsp. of the liquid from my cabbage & green tomato ferment as a starter

I cooked the dried peas for 3 hours, adding the lentils and split peas for the last 1 hour of cooking time.  I mashed them together after they'd been cooked and there was only a little water left and they were tender.  I mixed the rest of the ingredients together except the starter and added the still warm pea mixture.  I added the starter once the mixture had cooled. I packed it into 2 liter mason jars.  They're filled high (about 1" from the rim), so I may need to move some to another smaller jar...  We'll see how they ferment in the cupboard.  On Nov. 29th I checked them in the morning and it looked like they were only starting to ferment.  However, by the evening they were exploding!!  So I filled a 250 ml mason jar with a little of the ferment from each of the liter jars.  I've left all three jars in the cupboard until tomorrow, when I'll be moving them to the fridge...

Cucumber & Carrot Lacto-Ferment - made Nov. 19/16

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

- 1 med/large non-organic onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- about 2 cups of frozen wild apples chopped

- 1 large yellow carrot coarsely grated

- 1 small daikon radish coarsely grated

- about 3/4 cup of frozen green cabbage chopped finely

- 1 small bunch of parsley chopped

- 1 Tbsp sea salt

- 2 1/2 Tbsp. of my Cabbage, Cucumber, Rutabaga mix added later

I mixed everything together; in my large glass bowl, mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for awhile to warm, before transferring it to 2 liter & a 500 ml. mason jars firmly packed to the shoulder.  I then left them in the cupboard for 2 days.  However, they were fermenting very slowly, so I added a Tbsp. of my Cabbage, Cucumber, Rutabaga mix to each of the liter jars and 1/2 Tbsp to the 500 ml. jar.  It seems the frozen cabbage doesn't work in the same way as fresh cabbage, so I'll need to add a starter when I use this in the future.  I then put them back in the cupboard for another 2 days, before putting them in the fridge to stabilize... 

Cabbage, Carrot & Apple Lacto-Ferment - Made Nov 4/16

- 1 large head of cabbage (about 6" in diameter) chopped finely

- 1 medium/large onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 1 lb (maybe a little more) orange & red carrots coarsely grated

- 6 large slices of frozen cucumber chopped

- a little more than 1/4 of a large zip-lock bag of frozen wild apples chopped

- 2 Tbsp unrefined sea salt

I mixed 1 Tbsp of the salt and everything but the cabbage together; almost filling one of my 4 qt. large glass bowls.  I then split the mixture in 2 -- 1/2 in each of my large glass bowls and added the cabbage equally to each.  I then added the 2nd Tbsp of salt, 1/2 to each bowl, mixed everything together and mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for awhile to warm up a bit, before transferring it to  4 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the cupboard for 3 days. I transferred them to the fridge, then once fermentation slowed, I moved them down to the basement...

Corn & Green Tomatoes Lacto-Ferment - Made Oct. 22, 2016

- 1/2 of a large zip-lock bag of frozen non-organic corn

- 6 stalks of non-organic celery chopped

- approx 3 cups of chopped green cherry tomatoes

- 1  1/4" slice of green cabbage (about 4" in diameter) chopped finely
- 6 slices of frozen cucumber diced
- 1 small chiogga beet (1 1/2" in diameter) coarsely grated

- 1 medium/large non-organic onion diced

- 2 cloves of  garlic minced

- 1 1/2 Tbsp  sea salt

I stirred everything together, letting it warm up before bottling... This made enough to fill 3  liter mason jars firmly packed to the shoulder.   I left them in the cupboard for 4 days and then refrigerated prior to moving them to the basement...   This ferment was very juicy, so I drained off about 1 cup of liquid from all three jars after they'd fermented for a couple of days... I/ll use the liquid as a starter or to replace vinegar in a salad dressing...

A Note:
I usually add a starter with my corn ferments, but this time I'm trying it with just the addition of the cabbage...  We'll see...  An Update: The cabbage ends up being enough -- The batch has fermented  very well without the starter.. 

Cabbage & Green Tomatoes Lacto-Ferment - Made Oct 18/16

This summer was HOT and DRY, but seems to have provided tomatoes with ideal growing conditions...  My two small plants have exceeded my wildest dreams...  I've been eating their small, delicious ripe fruits for breakfast, lunch and dinner for months now.  We've been lucky too, to not have had a frost until well into October, so the season has been extended.  Although frost has now claimed the vines,  I'm still picking  the occasional ripe tomato...  There are TONS of green ones too, and since I like to use as much of what is sent as I can, I've decided to try using the green tomatoes in ferments...  This is my first try.  I've never done a ferment with tomatoes before, so we'll see how it turns out...

- 1 head of green & red savoy cabbage (about 6" in diameter) chopped finely

(This kind of savoy cabbage is similar in texture to the regular cabbage and NOT like the regular green savoy cabbage, which is softer and more tender ...

- about 1/3 of a 4" diameter red cabbage finely chopped-

 -1 large chiogga beet coarsely grated

- 1 med/large non-organic onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- approx. 3 cups of chopped green cherry tomatoes 

- 1 rounded Tbsp sea salt

I mixed everything together; completely filling my  large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to 3 liter and one 500 ml mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  After only 1 day they were exploding out of the jars, so I drained off a total of about 1 cup of liquid from all  3 jars, which I put in a separate jar to use as a starter and then put all the jars back in the cupboard. I tasted some when I drained off the liquid and already it tastes very good...so I'm sure I'll enjoying eating this one... Although it  fermented VERY well, I've still left all the jars in the warm cupboard for the full 3 days before moving them to the fridge to stabilize...