Ferments

We have been up to our eyeballs in ferments this weekend.  All of the crocks of veggies that we have been lacto-fermenting for the last couple of weeks we emptied and jarred.  This group we did as refrigerator picklings so that we could maintain the integrity of all of the good bacteria.  As we have already started re-filling the crocks, our next batch we will water-bath can and as a result will loose some of the benefits of lacto-fermenting, but we will gain the fresh taste of pickles for the months to come. 

We bottled the 2012 elderberry wine.  This batch we did as a straight run.  We did not add any other fruit flavors to it (like last years elderberry/rhubarb).  It will benefit from time in the bottle, but the flavor right out of the carboy is great.  We are considering doing our 2013 batch as a first press and then a second press rose.  All new experiments, so much fun!

We pulled all of the garlic yesterday and out of the entire row, we only found one head that we couldn't keep.  We are heavy in the garlic.  It was surprising how immense the root systems were.  The giant clods of dirt that the roots held onto took more than a little effort to free.  Thankfully, with B's broadfork. we were able to pull up sections, harvest, and aerate all at once!

 
To tie this in to the ferments theme here,  aside from farm bags, we are going to look into selling some at a local farm fresh store, packing in oil, and making some black garlic to sell and share. I am interested to try this out, the flavor is supposed to be fantastic!

I asked B this morning, how are we going to outdo yesterday?  We shall see...

Pause For Station Identification

I've not forgotten to write so far this week, we are just up to our ears in the county fair.  I can say, this far, we have learned a ton and are gaining our footing for the rest of the week and future years.  AND we already have a couple of ribbons ~ but more later.

The above shot is our first garlic, that we lovingly planted last fall and harvested yesterday.  It's drying out on the porch and will be stored and put with farm bags soon.    Our week three farm bags went out without a hitch and the week four bags are being picked up as we speak.  Week three included arugula, red leaf lettuce, onions, spinach, squash, beets, a few of our first cucumbers and wild blackberries!  The cucumbers this year are proving to be a challenge (look for another post on a sustainable life soon, ranting discussing).

I hope your week is off to a great start, I will have more from the county fair shortly! :)