Lacto-Fermentation

Last week, we had a great time hosting Doug Flack for a talk on “Real Foods, Real Health OR Why We’re in a Real Pickle.” With a packed room at the Fletcher Free Library (almost 60 people turned out), it was clear that we were tapping into something that people are curious and interested in right now – farm-fresh foods, raw milk and cultured dairy products, lacto-fermented vegetables, pastured eggs and meat, and more.

What do Korea and Eastern Europe have to do with each other?

Everything, when it comes to the importance of a pickled cabbage condiment on the table.

Cabbages harvested at Flack Family Farm for kimchi and sauerkraut

Capture those tomatoes while you can!

I’ve been making a lot of lacto-fermented sodas in preparation for my homemade soda class tonight. Right now, I have hibiscus-rose hip soda, blueberry soda, and lemon balm-honey soda all bubbling away, in addition to a raspberry-orange soda that’s already in the fridge. Don’t these jeweled jars look pretty?  
 

Lacto-fermented hibiscus, blueberry, and lemon balm sodas

What do you do with those leftover hardboiled eggs from Easter?

Pickled hardboiled eggs with Red Hen potato bread

On April 2nd, I presented on food preservation through the seasons for the Burlington Area Community Garden Spring Potluck/Fundraiser.

In less than 10 minutes, as I talked, I prepared a batch of lacto-fermented watermelon radishes (from Full Moon Farm) and carrots (from the Intervale) to show people how easy it to preserve seasonal produce this way. Look at how lovely and pink the water turns from the radishes.

Do you like the taste of old-fashioned, crunchy sour and half-sour pickles? At the Chubby Muffin Community Kitchen this week, we made a batch of these wonderful pickles using fresh, local cucumbers from Pomykala Farm. Here are a few steps from the process (from a batch I made ahead at home to bring in to sample):

Washing cucumbers and soaking them in cold water for an hour to get ready for pickling.