The Best Fermentation Weights - My Humble Review

There are many fermentation weights and styles out there, but I wanted to share with you my simple set up.  Many years ago, I used a variety of methods from glass jars filled with water to Ziploc bags and all of them had drawbacks whether it be mold growth or smell or just plain hassle. Online you could find weights made in China, but the thought of shipping materials back and forth across the ocean just didn't sit right with me. So, I decided to start to make my own - through trial and error, I came up with a very elegant weight that looks great and is easy to use which you can find on bubblycrock.com or in my Etsy shop. Over the years, I've come up with several styles, but my favorite is the weight with the handles as you keep your fingers out of the ferment.  

Below is a video showing how to use my weights and shows just how easy it is to get your ferments off on the right foot. 

To finish it off, I toss a fermentation cap on the jar to keep any wandering bugs or fruit flies out. 

It's simple, but I have found this to be the best way to ferment. I'm sure there are other great way to ferment out there; I just want to get more people doing it, and I think it's a small step towards making the planet a better, more sustainable place where you can grow your food and package it all in your home. Finally, all of my products are shipped using repurposed packing materials; Etsy offsets the carbon emissions from shipping and packaging. My garage is filled with boxes and repurposed packing materials that friends have brought over.  I hope you found this helpful. As Bob from Bob's Red Mill would say, "To your good health".

Growing Asparagus Beans

Every summer we grow something new in the garden.  This year we planted Red-Seeded Asparagus Beans purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  These tasty beans grow really long and are delicious stir-fried.  At one point we couldn't keep up with the supply so we froze them for winter eating.  I blanched them for 1 minute in boiling water followed by a ice bath for 1 minute.

Using a cattle panel for the trellis worked really well and we all enjoyed walking under the jungle of hanging beans.  The beans also made great "dreads" for the garlic pirate!

The pods can grow to 24 inches if you don't pick them fast enough.  They are best eaten when 12-14 inches long.  Picture taken 7-12-2015.

This picture was taken October 3rd and we are still receiving beans!  The beans that are brown and shriveled up will be saved for seed to be used next summer.

Making Tomato Paste Over the Fire

Tomatoes are finally making a presence in the garden and kitchen.  We are thrilled to have thriving plants this year after last year's blight.  Our first priority is tomato paste because we use a half-pint for every batch of homemade pizza and we eat a lot of pizza.  Altogether this summer we have canned 32 half-pints of paste.

We are growing 15 different varieties of heirloom tomatoes this year.  The different color combinations and size differences make for a colorful presentation, don't you think?  

We discovered years ago that we don't need to remove skins from our tomatoes when canning.  This saves a lot of time when processing a large batch.  We are using the cast iron pot we used when boiling maple syrup the first time.  It works really well for cooking down large batches of tomatoes for paste and even gives the sauce a smoky flavor which tastes great.

An immersion blender gives the paste a smoothe consistency and is the best kitchen gadget ever.

One teaspoon of lemon juice is added to each jar of paste before processing. 

In our super duper large 41 quart canner we fit all 32 half-pints in one load.  Water bath for 45 minutes. 

Teaching Others About Gardening and Preserving Food

This week I helped my friend, Pam, teach a class on growing and preserving food at a local MOPS group.  This is the same place I taught homemade cleaning projects and soap making in 2014.  The group had a lot of great questions for us and there seemed to be a few interested in starting a small backyard garden and preserving food.

Years ago the very thought of speaking in front of a group sent me into panic mode; but now I willingly accept the invitation.  Why the sudden change?  I have learned that when I am passionate about something, the fear of public speaking goes away.  Teaching is probably my calling in life, but not in the traditional sense like a teacher in a classroom.  I get excited showing others the things my family does and the lessons we have learned.  To see someone else become interested in what we are doing is very satisfying.   

In one hour we covered a lot of topics including:

*Benefits of raising your own food
*Getting started
*Types of gardening (i.e. container vs. raised bed vs. tilled area)
*Canning
*Freezing
*Dehydrating
*Fermenting
*Where to purchase large amounts of produce (i.e. farmer's market, stores locally, neighbors, etc.)
*Benefits of joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)
*Recipes

Pam gave everyone a packet of seeds to take home and we had a lot of stuff for them to look at.  We barely had enough time to cover all the topics and answer questions, but a handout was given to them before leaving.    

2014 Preservation List

We have officially ran out of space on the canning shelves!  We still have a lot leftover from the previous two years so this year we selectively grew produce that had few jars on the shelves.  For instance, we still have about 45 quart jars of green beans from last year so we grew shell beans instead.  Here's the official preservation list followed by a few pictures.  Keep in mind that these totals are only the excess we grew.  There were plenty of berries and vegetables for fresh eating and pies!  And as you already know, we grow everything without using pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

5 quarts, 8 pints stewed tomatoes
15 pints tomato soup
10 half-pints BBQ sauce
18 quarts, 1 pint tomato juice
10 half-pints green tomato relish
13 pints tomatillo salsa
11 pints tomatillo enchilada sauce
5 quarts whole tomatilloes
13 pints peas
35 pints beets
22 pints pickled beets
8 pints dill pickles
17 pints picked okra
73 quarts carrots
21 quarts peaches (purchased)
2 quart bags full of dehydrated peaches
7 quarts applesauce (purchased)
1/2 gallon jar dehydrated apple slices
15 pints, 14 half-pints strawberry jam
10 pints strawberry lemon marmalade
3 pints, 3 half-pints strawberry-rhubarb jam
10 trays of strawberry fruit leather
2 gallon freezer bags whole strawberries
5 quart freezer bags raspberries
8 pints, 3 Weck jars blackberry jam
4.5 pints ground cherry preserves
5 pints sauerkraut
2 gallon bags frozen snap peas
3 quart bags frozen cabbage
2 quart bags edamame
3 Turks Turban squash
4 Golden Hubbard squash
3 Acorn squash
13 jack-o-lantern pumpkins
9 pie pumpkins
12 quarts potatoes and 5 gallons for fresh eating
70 garlic
18 lb, 4.1 oz dry beans

A nice variety of beets this year.  (Click to enlarge)

First year canning peas...not enough freezer space for everything!

First year canning Tomatillo Salsa.

Jon is really proud of the pepper plants this year. 

Just picked from the garden--a beautiful assortment of peppers. 

Our assortment of shelling beans.  These will be great in soup, chili, and casseroles!

Carrots and Beets.  Picture taken: 5-30-2014 

Carrots and Beets.  Picture taken: 6-26-2014

Shelling Beans: Harvest and Storage

In August, I posted about our awesome bean trellis using the existing greenhouse frame for the beans to climb.  Well, the beans are finally harvested and put away for the winter.  The results: 18 lb 4.1 oz

All together we grew six different varieties of beans.  Three required a trellis and three didn't.

Once the bean pods are dry, the beans are removed.

The beans are then put on drying racks for about a week to remove any remaining moisture before permanent storage.  

The picture above was taken last year when I discovered mold on the beans because they weren't completely dry when stored in the jars.  I did manage to "save" them by washing them in warm water in a colander and then drying them in the oven on a low setting. 

Even with the wet weather rotting the beans touching the ground and the Mexican Bean Beetles, we still harvested more beans than we will need this winter.  For each type of bean that we grew, we planted an entire package (about 50 seeds per package) that we purchased from SSE with an exception of the Tiger's Eye.  We planted about 30 seeds of the Tiger's Eye that we saved from the previous year.  

Tiger's Eye (bush): 2 lb 5.4 oz

Lina Sisco's Bird Egg (bush): 3 lb 12.9 oz

Calypso (bush): 3 lb 3.4 oz

Cherokee Trail of Tears (pole): 3 lb 5.7 oz

Good Mother Stallard (pole): 3 lb 3.3 oz

Brockton Horticultural (pole): 2 lb 5.4 oz

We use a pressure cooker for cooking our beans.  Here are the cooking times for the varieties we grew. Cooking times (not soaked) vary depending on the size of the bean. 

Trail of Tears: 15 min

Good Mother Stallard: 30 min

Brockton Horticultural: 35 min

Tiger's Eye: 35 min
Lina Sisco's Bird Egg: 25 min
Calypso: 30 min

Tomato Blight and Using Green Tomatoes

This summer got away from us and the tomatoes received the brunt of it.  You can see from the above picture how quickly late blight takes over.  The only green in the picture on the right side are the prolific weeds.  It's a heart-wrenching feeling to rip the plants out of the ground while the fruits are still green. 

Every year Jon and I learn a little bit more about gardening and create our own tips and best practices.  This year Jon discovered the best bean trellis, and this year we are one step closer to understanding how to grow tomatoes.  Using wire fencing was far better than the flimsy tomato cages and log and twine trellises that rot and fall over.  This year the rows were spaced "properly" according to seed packet instructions, but they were still too close together making weeding downright impossible which explains the excessive overgrowth of weeds and airflow is crucial to minimize disease spreading.  Next year: eliminate the congestion and plant the tomatoes in one long row instead of a patch. Do you have any recommendations to keep blight away? We think it's taking over our potatoes now too.

Some of the tomatoes will ripen off the vine so we put them on the porch where they will receive some sun (if the cloudy rainy weather will pass!).  In the picture there is a seed-saving experience gone bad.  We saved seeds from a pie pumpkin that must have crossed with a zucchini.

Cherry tomatoes typically don't turn red after removal from the vine.  Instead of throwing them into the compost, I made Green Tomato Hot Dog Relish.  It's super easy to make.  You begin by washing the tomatoes and throwing them in a food processor without removing the skins. 

In food processor, puree green tomatoes until you have 1 quart.  Puree 1 large onion and 1 large red pepper.  Combine tomatoes, onion, and pepper in a large bowl with 2 T canning salt.  Let sit for 1 hr.

Drain and rinse.

In a large soup pot combine pureed mixture, 1 cup sugar, 1 T mustard seeds, 1 tsp. celery seed, 4 whole cloves, and 1 cup vinegar.  Bring to a boil and simmer 20 min.

Remove cloves before filling jars.  Process half-pints 10 minutes in water bath.  

Makes ~6 half-pints.

Canning Carrots and Using a 41 Qt. All American Canner

The day started with only one simple task: preserve carrots.  Little did we know how much of an undertaking this was going to be...

This year we were a bit over-zealous with the carrot patch.  Last year, all of our root crops rotted with all the rain.  Thankfully we had enough jars left from the previous year that we managed to have enough carrots to last us through winter.  The idea of preserving a little extra because of next year's uncertainty is something I find very important in homesteading.  

This year's varieties: Danvers, Dragon, and St. Valery

Pulling root crops is so satisfying---you just never know how big the carrot will be!

There is a dual benefit to using the broadfork at this stage.  It helps find carrots that were missed during the first picking and it loosens the soil for buckwheat planting.  The soil doesn't stay bare for long!

That's a lot of carrots...

For Mother's Day this year I received the Bron Mandolin and a pair of cut resistant gloves.  While I cleaned the carrots, Jon cut them, and Paul put them in bowls.  Thank goodness for the help...a lot of work for one person!

This year Jon splurged and purchased the All American 41.5 quart liquid capacity canner.  There are many aspects about this canner we like: 

1. Made in Manitowoc, WI  

2. No rubber seal to replace  

3. It can process 19 quarts and 32 pints at one time!  

For six years I have used a seven quart canner, but Jon wants to save time in the kitchen and keep the heat from the canner outside during the hot, humid days.

The only negative aspect about this canner is its sheer size and inability to fit on my current glass-top stove. We threw around the idea of an open fire, but that adds an entirely different challenge with keeping pressure constant.  Jon and I would prefer not to use propane but short of getting a new range our choices were pretty limited.  In the future, we would like to have an outdoor kitchen with a sink hooked up to a grey water system and an old stove just for canning.  Until then, we are using the current set-up. 

It was a long grueling 13 hour day of processing carrots from start to finish.  Paul was a great helper and found ways to entertain himself.  This kid loves to build and design structures like this carrot castle!

I prefer to push through large projects in one day rather than extend them into the next day.  It was satisfying to wake up the next morning to all 73 quarts sealed waiting to be wiped down and stored.  

I think we have enough carrots to last us awhile, don't you think?  A few weeks ago Jon planted 2 rows of Solar Yellow Carrots for a fall harvest.  Jon just can't resist trying new varieties!  *sigh*  I think Jon and I can agree upon one thing: only plant carrots for fresh eating next summer.