Red Cabbage, Rhubarb & Celery Lacto-Ferment - Made Aug 21/20

- 1 small head of red cabbage (about 5" in diameter) chopped finely

- 1/2 an Italian style zucchini chopped

- approx. 1 cup of chopped lovage leaves

- approx. 1/2 cup of chopped arugula leaves

- 1 bunch of celery with leaves chopped

- 1 med./large onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- approx. 2 cups of chopped frozen rhubarb

- a little less than 2 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together in my largest glass bowl.  After stirring it well, I transferred it to 4 liter  mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.   I've left them in my warm cupboard over my stove for just 2 days, before moving them to the fridge... as they fermented quite quickly in the warm weather...

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...  

Squash/Rhubarb/Chard Stem/Cranberry Lacto-Ferment: made Aug 11/20

- 2 cups frozen chopped rhubarb

- 4 cups dried cranberries chopped coarsely
- 1 med. onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 4 pieces of frozen squash - flesh chopped finely and skin finely grated
- 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of frozen chopped chard stems

- 1 rounded Tbsp plus 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt

- 4 small leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

This uses the last of my dried cranberries sweetened with sugar...  Unlike my first try with these, I've chosen ingredients that aren't very sweet to mix with them... We'll see how it works this time.  Although my first attempt ended up tasting VERY good, it was still a little sweet and took FOREVER to ferment.  This time, I've mixed everything together, making enough to fill 2 liter and a 750 ml.mason jars firmly packed to the shoulder. I plan to leave them in the warm cupboard over my stove until I can see they are fermenting well, before moving them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.

Well, after almost a week (which is a little slower than normal) they are fermenting well and I've moved them to the fridge... but for the first time ever I've had a problem with mold... probably due to the generally VERY warm temperatures and the fairly high sugar content of the mix.  I scraped off about 1/2" from the top of each jar, I think getting anything contaminated with mold and added this to my compost pile... It should do well there.  I smelled and tasted what remained and it both smelled and tasted VERY good.  I made sure the solids were well submerged in the liquid and then sprinkled about 1/4 tsp. of pink salt over the surface of each jar to inhibit more mold...  I hope it works!  I HATE throwing out food!  Partially because I know what it is to be hungry and partially because my parents both spent their late teens and early twenties pioneering in northern Alberta...  Although they worked hard to provide the best food possible both for themselves and their children, neither of them were the least bit squeamish about occasionally eating slightly questionable or less than perfect things ... They'd cut or scoop out the "bad" parts and eat the rest...  As long as it was edible it was eaten.  Only food that really did taste or smell "bad" was thrown out.  They just couldn't toss edible food no matter how it looked, after facing a time when they didn't know if there'd be enough to last through a tough winter into a new summer when more might be available... and that thinking stayed with them.  It was what I grew up with as a child... so I too have a LOT of trouble doing differently!

Update:  As of Oct 18/20 no mold had reappeared, so it seems adding the extra salt on top is effective...

Pea, Squash & Chard Stem Lacto-Ferment Made Aug 11/20

- 3/4 cup dried Oregon Giant peas
- 3/4 cup dried Green peas
- 1/3 cup dried yellow split peas

- 1/3 cup  a mix of large green & french lentils
- 3 small pieces of kombu seaweed broken up

- 1 med. onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt

- 4 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely
- 3 pieces of frozen squash finely chopped with skins finely grated

- 1 large zip-lock bag of frozen chard stems

I  cooked the peas with the kombu for about 2 1/2 hours, until there was only a little water left and they were tender.  I intended to add the lentils for the last 1/2 hour of cooking time, but by mistake I added them together with the other peas... we'll see... but it seems to be OK... When it was all cooked and the peas were soft I mashed the pea mix to make a paste before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.  I added the cabbage last when the mixture was just warm (NOT hot).  After mixing it well, I packed it into three one liter and  a 500 ml. mason jars filled to the shoulder .  I left them in my warm cupboard over my stove for less than a day (they were warm and the cupboard was warm and the fermenting bacteria seem to like the mix) when it was clear they were fermenting very well and then moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...  It is a more liquid mix than the pea mixtures I've done in the past... maybe I left more water with the peas or maybe it's because the squash contains more water than the ingredients I've used before...

Cabbage, Cucumber & Rhubarb Lacto-Ferment - Made May 30/20

- 1 large zip-lock bag of chopped frozen rhubarb

- 1 green cabbage (about 4 1/2" in diameter) finely chopped

- 2 small onions - one red & one white - diced
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 large zip-lock bag of frozen cucumber diced
- 3 pieces of frozen Red Kiri Squash - flesh chopped finely & skin grated finely

- 1 1/2 Tbsp of Himalayan pink salt... plus approx. 1 tsp. added later...

I mixed everything together... It makes a very liquid mix which  filled 4 liter mason jars firmly packed to the shoulder.  II left them in my "warm" cupboard over my stove for almost a week until I could see they were fermenting well and then transferred them to the fridge...  It took a little longer than normal to ferment as the mix started off very cold and the weather has been mainly cool, so my cupboard wasn't so warm.   I was also a little nervous that I hadn't added quite enough salt, so I added an additional approx. 1/4 tsp. to each jar.

Beans & Beet Lacto-Ferment Made May 9/20

- 1 1/3 cups dried black turtle beans cooked

- 1 cup dried adzuki beans cooked

- 3 med./small pieces of kombu seaweed crumbled

- 1 med. onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 3 med. celery stalks chopped
- 2 med. red beets coarsely grated
- 1 small rutabaga coarsely grated
- 5 small leaves of green cabbage finely chopped 

- 3 cups (approx.) of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 1 3/4 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I added the beans to boiling water with the kombu and then cooked them until they were tender (3 hours).   After mashing them, I added them 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 three 1 liter & one 500 ml.  mason jars  filled to about 1 inch from the rim.  I left them in my "warmish" cupboard over my stove for 4 days.  At this time I could see they were fermenting well so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...