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... 

Bean Lacto-Ferment - Made May 27/21

- 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 med. onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 2 pieces of frozen squash - flesh diced & skin finely grated
- 2 med. red beets coarsely grated
- 1 cup of frozen chopped parsley

- a few stems of fresh sorrel & sweet cicely 

- 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 4 leaves of green cabbage finely chopped

- 2 Tbsp. 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 three 1 liter mason jars  filled to the shoulder and one 500 ml. mason jar filled a little more than half full.  They fermented VERY quickly, so I only left them in my cupboard over my stove for a day and a half... when I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... 

Pea, Rhubarb, Squash & Radish Lacto-Ferment - Made Mar 3/21

- 3/4 cup dried whole green peas

- 3/4 cup dried Oregon Giant peas

- 2 Tbsp  of green lentils

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

- 1/4 cup of yellow split peas

- 1 med./large onion diced

- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

- 2 slices of pineapple diced

- approx. 1 cup of chopped frozen celery leaves

- 1 med./small Daikon radish grated

- approx. 2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 3 meal sized pieces of frozen squash - skin grated finely & the flesh diced

- 1 1/2  rounded Tbsp. of Himalayan pink salt

- 5 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

I cooked the peas & lentils for about 3 hours.  I mashed them together after they'd cooked and were tender.  This time there was a little more water left than usual, so it made a more fluid 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.  I left them covered in front of a rad for less than 2 days.  At this point I could see they were fermenting VERY 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...

Beans & Beet Lacto-Ferment - Made Dec 17/20

- 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 med. onion diced

- 1/2 tsp of garlic powder

- 6 slices of frozen zucchini diced
- 2 med. red beets coarsely grated
- 2 med. carrots coarsely grated

- 1 cup frozen chopped chard stems 

- 1 1/2 cup of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 3 large leaves of green cabbage finely chopped

- 1 1/2 Tbsp. 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 medium/firm 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 three 1 liter  and one 500 ml. mason jars  filled to the shoulder.  I left them in my now not so warm cupboard over my stove for a little more than a day, but as they didn't seem to be doing much, I covered them and placed them in front of one of my rads where it's nice and warm... It only took 24 hours before they were fermenting so well they were exploding out of the jars.  What a difference a little warmth can make!  I've now moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...