It’s official.  We have become fermentation maniacs.  Left to right: pineapple chutney, pickled zucchini, dill pickle slices, dill pickle spears, and sour kraut.  They are all in various stages of fermenting, and I think the sour kraut is pretty much done.

There is nothing that hits the heart of the new home economics better than fermentation.  Here are a couple of simple reasons why:

1) It is a way of preserving locally grown produce through the winter months — this stuff won’t keep forever, but it will keep until next spring.
2) Instead of destroying nutrients, as traditional canning does, it enhances nutritional value
3) It is ideally suited to small batches, which makes it perfect for someone with a small garden
4) It’s something most people can’t buy in a store (unless they are very lucky or very wealthy)

Go ahead and click on my Fermentation tag on the right to see all my posts about it.  We made our first kimchi only 2 months ago and already we are completely sold on this.

We used the Nourishing Traditions recipe for the pineapple chutney, the Wild Fermentation recipe for the pickles and kraut, and Adam adapted this recipe for the zucchini.  If it turns out good (and so far, it is looking that way) I will have him post the recipe.