I recently have been listening to this podcast called Ancestral Kitchen. What I enjoy most about this podcast is how much I’ve learned about fermented foods. Fermentation is the food preservation method I had been looking for but didn’t know I needed.  While eventually I do want to learn to can and make shelf stable food, I was always frustrated about the nutrients lost during canning. These nutrients include b vitamins, some antioxidants, Omega 3s and vitamin C. Vitamin c was the nutrient that made me think there had to be a way of preserving food that didn’t destroy the nutrients I was trying to eat.

10 years after I learned that vitamin c was heat sensitive I started to learn about how fermentation not only preserves food without having to heat them up but the act of fermentation its self makes nutrients easier to digest and more bioavailable. This was technique I could get behind.

I thought pickling and fermenting were the  same thing and learned they are not. Pickling preserves food but doesn’t have any probiotics and doesn’t make the food more bioavailable.

My husband likes to make this mixture in which he essentially pickles peppers with onions and carrots. I did a similar process but instead of using vinegar I used a salt water brine to induce fermentation. I also use Cabbage, okra, eggplant and summer squash. My goal is to make a mixed vegetable ferment. I’ve also heard good things about fermented garlic and have a jar of that on my counter as well in an old salsa jar. I hope to ferment the last bits of my fall harvest in hopes to reduce my grocery bill during the winter months.

Fermentation has been such a fun thing to learn!I found my first ferment a bit salty and hope letting it ferment longer will reduce the salty taste. Either way it is really good on a salad and a nice easy way to add veggies to a meal that is lacking vegetables.

I also love how I can reuse old jars for my ferments. I have a tiny problem with throwing away good glass jars. I save almost all my glass jars in case I need them. Now that I’m starting to ferment I’m finally using them. I don’t have any weights to hold down my veggies under the brine. I just use a cabbage leaf. Making ferments doesn’t have to be complicated and you don’t need any special equipment to get started. Make sure you have the right salt ratios and just go for it.