It is stupendous how you can easily learn a lot from like minded people as you. I think of this since one of the things that I enjoyed the most this summer was conversing. In the mornings I would find myself looking at rolling hills under the sunshine while working the soil with others at the farm. This presented a great opportunity to discuss all kinds of issues, laugh at stories, complain about things, sing in harmony, ask questions and most importantly just listen.
By way of conversing, I started to ferment cabbage, feed yeast and bacteria with tea, make goat's milk aged cheese and share valuable lessons from the garden. Talking about how to make things with someone with experience rather than reading it from a book is great. The following are recipes for what I am making now based on what other people have done.
THE FERMENTED- For the sauerkraut I used 5 green cabbages, salt and a mandolin. Also, I am using the ceramic pot from the crock pot as the fermenting vessel. After slicing each cabbage, I sprinkled salt over it and waited a few minutes for osmosis to take place. Later, I stuffed the shredded cabbage (by layers) into the ceramic pot and pressed it down with a ladle. I sprinkled some caraway seeds and repeated the process until I used all of the cabbages. Then I cut a piece of cheese cloth and tucked in on the sides of the sauerkraut with a butter knife. I made sure that the cabbage was completely under the brine (water and salt). I put a small plate in the middle of the pot and I weighed the plate and sauerkraut down with a rock. I placed the pot in the basement because it is cool and dark. I tried it the other day and it tastes pretty good. I am also attempting to make Kimchi, although it is a bit harder.
For the Kombucha, I obtained a "mother" culture from a friend. To make the brew for the mother to ferment, I used Jasmine green tea and organic sugar cane. I boiled a gallon of water and added 0.8 oz of loose tea inside a piece of cheese cloth and steeped it for 15-20 minutes. Then I added one cup of sugar and stirred it. It needs to cool down to below 80F before you can add the mother culture. I am using a one gallon glass container with a spout at the bottom to hold the brew and the culture. After I added the mother culture to the brew, I cover the container from the sunlight and put a rubber band over the cloth and around the mouth of the container. Finally, you have to wait until the culture ferments the sugar and caffeine into Kombucha. You know that it is ready when you can't taste the sugar. This is the first fermentation, now my friend told me that you could transfer the liquid into a smaller bottle add other ingredients to the brew and let it ferment a second time. I filled the bottles with the Kombucha and added pieces of ginger, raspberries, lemon grass and currants, then closed them with a lid and place them at room temperature under a cloth. You wait a little bit longer, then try them again and voila. My only recommendation is that you can only have between 8 and 12 oz a day of kombucha. I had the idea of drinking about 25 oz one night and the next day I was feeling pretty bad. It took a couple of days before I felt normal again.
THE MOLDY- For the cheese (Sainte-maure-de-touraine), I borrowed molds, strain cloth, and mold spores. I processed the cheese with Chevre cultures and added the fungus. Then I let it sit for 24 hours, then I spooned the curds very gently into the molds. Then that has to sit for 24 hours until you remove it from the molds with the help of a stick through the cheese. Then I laid the cheese on trays to dry for 2 to 3 days in the basement. We'll see if it turns out with the right mold on the outside. While the cheese was drying, Fugee took a bite out of one when she was in the basement. I broke a huge piece from that one and we tried it. It was really good on pizza.
THE BOUNTY- Here comes some advice from the person that has grown a tremendous supply of decorative pumpkins for the whole neighborhood. In the spring, I had this tray of soil that I dumped on one of the beds in the garden. To my surprise, all these small squash plants started to sprout and grow ( I realized that they were from a squash from last fall). Me, being compassionate and opportunistic, transplanted all the plants almost every where in the garden. I just found out that I was growing small, cute decorative squashes and I have been pulling them out of the beds and starting a new compost pile.
Every summer is different, I am happy that I am learning from others and trying new recipes. I am going to miss the warmth of the soil in my bare feet, milking the goats, harvesting and processing vegetables at the farm. Needless to say, I enjoy the change of roles during the year and I know my hands appreciate the time off from weeding.
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