This morning we spent some time in the kitchen practicing our fermentation skills. We enjoy being able to eat from the farm long after the harvest. This process makes food into delicious medicine.
Shannon Stonger in her book, Traditionally Fermented Foods, explains the process this way:
“A vegetable has its own microbial makeup from the soil in which it was grown. Place it in salt water at a temperature anywhere between 50 and 80°F, and not long after that, bacteria will begin to multiply. While these bacteria multiply, an acid called lactic acid is produced. This is where the term lacto-fermentation comes from; it does not refer to the inclusion of whey or dairy, as is sometimes assumed. Rather it is a reference to the type of bacteria being multiplied and the resulting lactic acid which preserves the food.
Eventually, the jar of vegetables begins to bubble. This is because carbon dioxide is produced when the bacteria feast on simple sugars. It is a byproduct of fermentation that comes in handy; it displaces the oxygen in the sealed vessel, thereby perpetuating the anaerobic environment needed for proper fermentation…. The process is both beautiful and technical…it does it all while predigesting the food and adding enzymes, probiotics and vitamins that make the final fermented product better for the human body than the raw food.
It really is quite miraculous.’
Upcoming Events:
November 2 – The Living Landscape
November 9 – Foraging: Roots
November 19 – Bread Baking
December 7 – The Living Landscape
December 14 – Foraging: Winter Offerings
Custom Classes & Workshops
See you at the farm!