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... 

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... 

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...