Pretty -n- Pink

Remember all this bok choy? This never-ending bok choy....

So instead of Kimchi, I decided to use the rest and make something a tad different, a nice little refresher with radishes and b b b b beeeeeeets!

You can never have enough split radishes.....

With split radishes come other split roots, like these beets

but once ya get all the bad odds and ends off, look at these beauties! Dazzling chioggia and golden beets!

Add a little salt (I did 2 teaspoons for this kraut) with that bowl of radishes pictured above, three beets, and about 10-15 head of bok choy. Massage massage massage until ya have some brine going then pack it into a jar/crock and let the magic happen! Remember to keep checking up on your kraut every day or two!

Stay tuned for how this is pretty-n-pink kraut!

~pickle on~

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(left to right) Kimchi, Zucchini Turnip Pickle x 2, Turnip Radish Pickle

Ferments made it back to the farm today!

~Volunteers were served their veggies in a new way~

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Zucchini Pickle Update!

Just after three days these guys are already really going! Bubbling and fermenting away!

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Kimchi Please!

Can you say k.....k......k......k.......kimchi?!

A blessing in disguise, unfortunately we had a whole bed of Bok Choy that kind of went to shambles for market (the bugs have been having a nice breakfast, lunch, and dinner on all the leaves......)

With that said, the only next best step was to make Kimchi, two different recipes!

Kimchi I:

So this is my first ever attempt at making kimchi, so I really just kind of made up the measurements off the top of my head. I chose to not use fish sauce for the purpose of I don't have it and I want to be able to share these ferments with everyone.

So here I used:

-10-15 heads of Bok Choy

-2 T korean chili flakes

-1 T sea salt

-1T barley miso

-2 inch garlic

-half knob of garlic (used a nice fresh half of garlic from the farm, but cured garlic works just as well)

-1 1/2 T pure cane sugar

-Enough water to blend

Just blend everything together, put the spread on your kimchi and massage, massage, massage your veggies!!

Once ya get a nice brine going, Take all your veggies and stick em in a jar. Remember to check on your ferment everyday or so and push it down to keep all the veggies in the brine! Here's a lil photo of the Whole Leaf Bok Choy Kimchi after two days!

Kimchi II:

Since I have so much Bok Choy and it's my first time making kimchi, decided to try making it again! (why not right?)

So this time I added:

-10-15 heads of Bok Choy

-About a bunch of scallions

-4-5 Carrots

-3 T korean chili flakes

-1T sea salt

-2 1/2-3in of ginger

-1 knob of fresh garlic

-1T 1t of barley miso

-2T pure cane sugar

-Enough water to get it to blend

Add everything together

Then just....

Then I just like to cover the ferment up before jarring it, to allow it to get a little go before I jar it up!

Stay tuned for results!

-Keep on pickling!-

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Two Boots Farm

A little aside from pickling, but just as important, another place I hold very near and dear to my heart is Two Boots Farm in Hampstead, MD.

Two Boots Farm is run by Elisa Lane and her husband Doron and it's so wonderful out there! Elisa has been such a huge inspiration to me and is one of the hardest working people I know. Having started Whitelock Farm and moving on to starting her own farm out in Baltimore County, Elisa is doing some wonderful work and when I went to go visit the farm today, everything was looking absolutely beautiful!

An awesome photo of Elisa and her husband Doron that I stole off their website. Check it out: http://www.twobootsfarm.com ! — An awesome photo of Elisa and her husband Doron that I stole off their website. Check it out: http://www.twobootsfarm.com !

Cucumbers, squash, kale, etc. all basking in the sun!

So the best part of this trip was when Elisa told me that there are wild raspberry bushes surrounding her farm.

Little did I know....

Hands smothered (and mouth) is raspberry juice from one of the most joyful harvests I've had thus far this season.

It didn't end there! Then Elisa took me to the black currant bushes!

Used my raspberry stained fingers to pick the last of these awesome black currants.

I think it's time to put down the pickle for these and pick up the can (can anyone say preserves and jam?!)

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Quick Pickled Zucchini

You want know what time of the season it is?

Zucchini and squash time.

You want to know what's going to happen in a week or two?

Your fridge is going to become overwhelmed with zucchini and squash to the point where you can't roast or grill it anymore. Slathering hummus on it won't help either.

So do this:

One of our first zucchini squash was a big doozy, so I decided to snag it, harvest some of the squash blossoms, and take some split turnips to turn things up a little. Still keeping it pretty subtle, pretty simple.

"Quick" in the title doesn't mean quick as in "this is going to pickle in a day". "Quick" means it takes about 1 minute to chop this all up, another minute to arrange everything in a jar, and one last final minute to pour some salt water on it.

A big excuse people have to pickling is that they just don't have the time. Ok, sure. BUT you could take three minutes out of your extremely packed day to save that zucchini before it goes bad in your fridge and give your micro biome some good lovin' in a few weeks.

So chop up your zucchini and any other vegetable you want to add to your pickle in any desirable size (mandoline slice if you want your slices really thin) and just stack it all in a jar! One big zucchini filled up two quart jars for me!

So pickling things is not a huge dent in your wallet, really there's barely a dent that's made. You can find glass or ceramic jars anywhere for a buck or two (peruse around some good thrift stores!), you have your veggies already, so last but not least you need your salt. Not totally necessary, but why not just up the ante and invest in some good mineral sea salt?? Make that pickle the best pickle it could be!

So for these pickles, I just made a quick salt water brine, which really is what it sounds like. Salt and water mixed together and poured on your veggies.

For these pickles, I did 1 teaspoon of sea salt that I dissolved in enough water to fill one jar.

And that's it! Now just make sure that the brine level reaches the last veggie in your jar, so everything is pickling and submerged in the brine. The final thing to do is check up on your pickles every day or two, give it a little push in the brine, and in a week or two you should have some zucchini pickles! You can also just store away the jars in a nice cool place to slow down the pickling process (or store it in your fridge) once your zucchini has reached a pickled stage to your liking (the longer it's out in a warmer area fermenting, the stronger the ferment will get).

This pickle also gives you a nice chance to break away from that zucchini, turn down your oven and grill, and give yourself some time to miss it. Pop open a jar in a month or two once you're ready to zucchini it again.

And now we wait.....

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Summer Comfort Kraut

Flowered mustard greens, garlic by the stalk-ful, herb garden kicking in, time for a good 'ol cabbage kraut with a twist! Mustard flower, garlic, and oregano kraut!

Summer Comfort Kraut:

-Two heads of cabbage

-About one bunch of oregano*

-Half knob of fresh spring garlic (or half a knob of cured garlic)*

-1 1/2 tablespoons of sea salt (I would bang out a few extra bucks to get a good sea salt high in minerals!)**

-A few handfuls of mustard flowers

Take your cabbage, clean of the outside, chop off the bottom, and either use a food processor to slice your cabbage into whatever desirable chopped form you'd like, or I like to just chop cabbage the good 'ol fashion way and just use my knife and cutting board. So chop up your cabbage, de-stem and chop up your herbs (not too fine! you want some good bits in there), clean up your garlic and chop the garlic to whatever desirable size you'd want (I just sliced up the garlic nice and thin to go along with the rest of the kraut)

Last but not least! Top of your kraut with some beautiful mustard flowers!

Once you have all the goods together in a nice big bowl (or any sort of container that can hold all this produce plus give you room to massage your kraut without making too big of a mess) add your salt and now the fun begins!

Massage everything together.

Keep massaging all the veggies together until the vegetables naturally start to let out water which is the beginning sign of your brine! No need to add water, no need to add vinegar! With a little salt, a little time, a little love your vegetables will be on their way to becoming a beautiful kraut!

*garlic and oregano can be adjusted to your liking! A little more, a little less, whatever floats your boat!

**when making kraut, taste the kraut after each addition of salt! If you taste it and it's not salty enough, add a little salt. Too salty? You probably over-salted it.... Don't be afraid of over-salting your kraut, start off with a tablespoon, massage your kraut, taste it. If you feel like it needs a little more, add a little more! If you're fine with the amount of salt and your kraut is well into the brining process after a little loving massage, you're all good to go!

Allow your kraut to sit out in the bowl for about an hour or two, from time to time check up on it and give it a little massage. This will allow your kraut to settle more and just to give it as much tending to to really get it going. (Not a super vital step but if possible it doesn't hurt!)

Once your veggies have released a fair amount of liquid and all your vegetables are starting to seem almost as if they're "sogging" up, time to pack your kraut into a vessel, crock, jar you name it! With these last important jarring tips you'll be on your way to kraut in no time!

1. Jar up your kraut (and all the brine that it already started to create) in any sort of glass or ceramic jar, vessel, crock, etc. If you own a kraut crock that come with weights and a lid, go ahead and pack that kraut in! if not here are some tips on finding the right home for your kraut to ferment in:

-any sort of glass or ceramic jar/vessel (NO PLASTIC) should be fine, if all your kraut doesn't fit in one jar, divide all your kraut into the different jars (divide up the brine as evenly as possible amongst them as well)

-WEIGHTS, weighing your kraut is super important! You want all your vegetables to be submerged into the brine that your kraut has naturally produced thus far (and will continue to do so!) Specific crocks for kraut may already come with weights, but if not, finding a plate or something flat to use to push down your kraut and you put something heavier on top of that always works to keep everything submerged. Also, filling ziplock type bags with water or any sort of heavy object has been my best bet!

-Lining the top of your kraut with some plastic wrap (the plastic wrap would lie on top of your kraut and under your weights) to make for an easier and cleaner unveiling when your kraut is done fermenting. Lining with plastic wrap can also prevent mold (not all the time but it can help) It also helps to keep the vegetables in the brine under the weights, just incase some decide to peep out the side of the jar and weights

Any vegetables not submerged in the brine will mold.

IF YOU GET MOLD ON TOP OF YOUR KRAUT, THIS IS NOT BAD. Mold on the top of your kraut is caused from your kraut meeting the air, and it's just the vegetables not submerged in the brine which has all the good and healthy bacteria that is keeping your kraut from molding. When the time comes to finish fermenting your kraut and you have a little mold problem on top, just scoop that moldy top and trash it (better yet compost it) Everything underneath that bit IS PERFECTLY FINE TO EAT. (I will have more detailed post next week discussing more specifics on kraut, but for now this should get you by)

Try and check on your kraut everyday if possible to see how everything is going and changing, and to most importantly give it a little push on top to keep all those veggies in that brine!

Now, the length of time you choose to ferment your kraut is up to you. I like my kraut pretty fermented, so I go on for about 3-5 weeks. If you're just joining the fermenting game, I would wait a week and try your kraut. If it's at a point that's good for you, jar it up, store in a cool place or your fridge (colder temperatures slow down fermentation), and enjoy!

STAY TUNED NEXT WEEK FOR MORE DETAILED AND EDUCATED POSTS ON:

the benefits of fermented food

a more detailed (visually and descriptive) process on making kraut

~get pickling~

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Turned Turnip Radish Kraut

Radishes split, turnips don't look so great, scallions get a bad harvest... kraut!

Just because your veggies turn out like this doesn't mean they should go to waste.

As the veggies are starting to come in and as the masses begin to boom, there's a chance that a portion of those just aren't the most appealing veggies. A couple weeks ago we harvested some radishes and purple top turnips and these odd dudes didn't make the cut. They did make it into a different cut though! (hah)

Stay tuned for the results next week!

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Welcome!

Hi and welcome to Whitelock Ferments! My name is Kathe and this all here is a little project I’m starting at Whitelock Community Farm, a place that I hold so near and dear to my heart. I started volunteering at Whitelock last year and it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve met some of the greatest people, learned so many amazing things, and have felt nothing but support from Whitelock and the Baltimore community at large.

This all comes about from a few places. First, after one summer of farming, I realized how much good produce goes to waste. People don’t buy ugly, split, a tad beaten up produce. From walking around farmers markets and even just from dumping compost, I’ve seen how picky people can be with their produce and it’s a serious waste. If they only realized that with a little chop here and a little cut there, that “ugly” vegetable is perfectly usable and delicious. Second, as I started to become more involved with farming, I began to recognize the natural transition fermentation holds from farming. Long before the invention of refrigeration, farmers would pickle all of their vegetables to have food for the winter (little did they know they were turning dirt to gold!). I come from a fully blooded Polish family, so fermented foods are absolutely nothing new to me. They’re things I’ve been consuming before I could speak about all of this!

After starting to focus on the connection between farming and fermentation, I realized it wasn’t really present in American culture. I’ve noticed that America is afraid of fermentation, afraid of bacteria, and chooses pasteurization to the max. I met and worked for the lovely Meaghan Carpenter of Hex Ferments (who is doing an amazing job of making some of the best kraut and kombucha I’ve ever had!). She taught me more about lacto fermentation and also about the importance of spreading that knowledge to others, since its exposure in the states is only beginning to blossom. Fermentation is a vital part of food culture that is missing in America. Mostly every other country and culture has developed some sort of fermentation method that they’ve sustained on for years. The lack of fermentation, massive scare of “live bacteria,” and the mass consumption of processed foods has led so many Americans to face a vast amount of health problems, such as serious cases of diabetes, heart disease, digestive problems, etc. The list really goes on.

I want this blog to reflect on the importance of wasting less food and learning that even a few bits of an “ugly” vegetable can be fermented into something that is so much more than what it was originally. Fermented vegetables are blessed with an array of vitamins, minerals, and do wonders for your body and digestive system! I want to spread my knowledge of urban farming, eating wholesome foods, the history of farming and fermentation, and acknowledge the importance of sharing with others and the community.

Here's to the beginning of a whole new fermenting chapter at Whitelock Farm! Stay posted for recipes, tips, workshops, and images of all sorts!

Whitelock Community Farm Ferments!

From farm, to jar, to table.

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