Fermentation workshop

We had a great fermentation class here a few weeks ago.  This is a favourite class around here, that we offer several times per year - since making kraut is so simple, so healthy, and really great hands-on fun.  In the class we made a mixed winter root veggie kraut with every local winter veggie we could find (leeks, red cabbage, green cabbage, kale, daikon, black radish,  carrots, onion, garlic, beets...)- honestly, this is the BEST tasting kraut I have ever had (and the richest colour - beet purple!).  One of our workshop participants took fabulous photos.. here are a few, courtesy of the talented local photographer Natalie Nunn.

Sauerkraut & Kimchi Workshop

We are back into full swing of our workshop schedule with classes taking place most Saturdays until June.  Today's session was on lactic acid fermentation, specifically making sauerkraut and kimchi.  This workshop would be good to offer in late summer just in time to preserve/ferment all the bounty coming out of backyard gardens, local farms and CSA's.  However, in late winter we are also glad to revive our cabbage and root vegetable flavours by fermenting them, while biding our time for the fresh garden veggies that are still a few months to come.  We used organic local produce, including carrots from our favourite CSA (Fertile Ground) that we have stored since the fall buried in a large container of damp sand.  They are still perfectly crisp and juicy!

What is lactic acid fermentation?  Live cultured, probiotic, unpasteurized vegetable and fruit ferments that are health promoting foods packed with beneficial bacteria and enzymes.  The lactic acid creates the sour flavour and preserves the food, preventing spoilage. 

A few key tips:
~ shred -- salt -- submerge
~ use only good quality sea salt, filtered chlorine-free water, whey (from live cultured yogurt)
~ use top quality organic produce
~ keep fermented veggies submerged under brine 
~ salt water brine is made of 2-4 Tbsp sea salt per 1 litre water
~ season and salt to your taste - add spices, herbs, garlic, ginger, green onion, cayenne, chili, etc
~ keep ferments around 18C (65 F) during fermentation
~ check ferments often to taste for flavour and watch for mold, etc
~ when ferments are ready (at desired flavour) store in cold cellar or refrigerator
~ use ceramic crock or glass mason/gallon jars for fermentation
~ eat and enjoy your ferments often!

New Workshops for Spring! Homesteading Skills, Fermented Foods, Permaculture & More...

Our new 2014 Spring Workshop Series is now posted and open for REGISTRATION HERE.

Improve your homesteading kitchen skills with topics such as cultured foods (sourdough, sauerkraut & kimchi, kombucha, and yogurt/kefir making); learn more about how to identify and use wild edible plants; work on a permaculture design for your yard!  We look forward to hosting all these workshops again and hope to see you there.  All workshops are held right here at our little homestead in the city Little City Farm, in Kitchener.

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SAT, MARCH 15 from 1-4 pm - INTRO TO TRADITIONAL SOAP MAKING
Cost: $50 - Limited space - pre-registration required.
With Karin Kliewer, from Little City Farm.
Learn to make beautiful all-natural healing soaps using nourishing oils, organic botanicals, and pure essential oils. During this popular busy hands-on workshop each participant will make their own 2 lb batch of cold process soap from scratch using recipe and ingredients provided. We'll talk about various soap making techniques, where to source ingredients, and the properties that various ingredients such as clays, botanicals, oils and essential oils add to your soap. Participants will need to bring a few simple supplies.

NEW THIS YEAR: Participants have the option to purchase a handcrafted wooden soap mold from Little City Farm in advance. More details about what to bring will be provided upon registration.

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 SAT, MARCH 22 from 1-2:30 pm – CULTURED KITCHEN SERIES: SAUERKRAUT & KIMCHI
Cost: $35 - Limited space - pre-registration required.
Learn about the health benefits of making live-cultured ferments at home. In this practical hands-on workshop we'll be making a batch of sauerkraut and kimchi from scratch. You'll leave with all the knowledge you need to make delicious successful cabbage ferments at home. Take home jar of sauerkraut/kimchi – all supplies, instruction and recipes provided. Please bring an apron, cutting board and knife.

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SAT, APRIL 5 – from 1-3 pm - CULTURED KITCHEN SERIES: YOGURT MAKING
Cost: $35 - Limited space - pre-registration required.
Learn about the benefits of live-cultured foods, including homemade yogurt. In this practical hands-on workshop we'll be making a batch of yogurt, and yogurt cheese. Take home jar of live cultured yogurt and bowl of yogurt cheese! Please bring apron, thick towel, stainless steel bowl and colander. All supplies, instruction and recipes provided.

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SAT, APRIL 12 - from 1-3 pm - CULTURED KITCHEN SERIES: SOURDOUGH STARTERS
Cost: $35 - Limited space - pre-registration required.
Make beautiful healthful sourdough bread from your own starter at home! The sourdough process uses wild yeast and fermentation, and often this type of bread is more digestable than bread made with commercial yeast. Learn how to maintain a sourdough starter, benefits of eating sourdough bread, and other ways to use your starter (e.g. pancakes, muffins). Experience the sourdough bread making process from start to finish, take home your own jar of sourdough starter and taste samples of sourdough bread. All supplies, instruction and recipes provided. Please bring along an apron.

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SAT, APRIL 26 - from 10-11:30 am - FELTED SOAP!
Cost: $25 - Limited space - pre-registration required.
Felted soap combines soap with washcloth, all in one! Learn the art of making beautiful felted soap with natural wool, dyed in colourful shades. In this hands-on workshop participants will learn about wet felting, and each make 2 small bars of felted soap to take home. All supplies and instruction provided. Bring apron or old clothes. Children aged 5+ welcome if accompanied by an adult (if you wish to bring your child please notify us in at time of registering).

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SAT, APRIL 26 - from 1-3 pm - INTRO TO PERMACULTURE
Cost: $25 - Limited space - pre-registration required.
With Tracie Seedhouse of Earthchild Design
Permaculture is a design system that incorporates agriculture, culture and sustainability to create a self-sustaining, life enhancing landscape/lifestyle. In this practical workshop you will be walked through the basic principles of permaculture, look at some examples of permaculture at Little City Farm, and have the opportunity to use these concepts to work on design ideas for your own garden/yard. Supplies, instruction and resources provided. Bring along a pencil/pen/marker and coloured pencils for simple sketching. This is an outdoor workshop, so please dress for the weather (we will move indoors in case of extreme weather)

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SAT, MAY 10 - from 1-3 pm - WILD SPRING EDIBLES
Cost: $25 - Limited space - pre-registration required.
With Jackie McMillan, local wild foods educator.
This popular annual workshop teaches you all about how to find, safely identify, carefully harvest, and prepare wild spring edibles for eating. We'll talk about wild foods such as wild leeks, dandelion, fiddleheads, wood sorrel, violets, burdock root, and many other commonly found edible greens, flowers, roots and herbs. Taste delicious samples as part of this workshop. Please dress for the weather as this is an outdoor workshop.

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SAT, JUNE 15 - from 1-3 pm - CULTURED KITCHEN SERIES: KOMBUCHA
Cost: $35 - Limited space - pre-registration required.
With Jon Spee.

Kombucha is an ancient probiotic tea beverage that is delicious and nourishing.  Luckily it just takes a few ingredients and supplies and can be made at home.  Learn about the art of fermenting Kombucha, taking care of a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), adding flavours, and bottling, as well as a few other naturally fermented beverages that can be made at home.  Workshop will be hands on and attendees will leave with their own batch of Kombucha started and ready to ferment at home.  Instruction, recipes and supplies provided. Please bring an apron.
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Winter Kimchi

I mentioned earlier that I've started another live cultered sauerkraut. It's actually not quite a sauerkraut as it's not just cabbage - it's more of a winter kimchi - a spicy, garlicy, health-tonic made of pickled vegetables. Kimchi can be made in a variety of styles and originates in Korea where it is a national culinary art and passion.

This recipe is loosely based on the one found in Wild Fermentation: The Flavour, Nutrition and Craft of Live-Culture Foods by Sandor Ellix Katz, a fantastic cookbook and cultured food history. This cookbook is always close at hand in our kitchen, as we are trying to work our way through all manner of fermented foods and this wide ranging book covers everything from vegetable ferments (like sauerkraut and pickles); bean ferments (like miso and tempeh); bread ferments (like sourdough and dosas); dairy ferments (like yogurt and savoury cheeses); plus fermented grains, beverages, wines, vinegars and more!

This kimchi is extremely simple to make - the secret is just the right amount of spicing to suit your taste and then allowing enough time to ferment. The recipe is extremely adaptable, just use what vegetables you like or have at hand. Here is an aproximation of what I used:

Winter Kimchi
fresh garlic (3 whole bulbs)
onion (2 large)
ginger (1/2 inch sliced)
dried cayenne peppers (3 large including seeds)
carrots (3 large)
green cabbage (3 heads)
daikon radish (6 inches)
filtered water (14-18 cups)
sea salt (14-18 Tbsp)

First the vegetables are shredded or chopped to a desireable size, then stirred together in a large jar or ceramic crock. The container is then filled with enough brine solution to completely cover the vegetables when weighed down with a large plate and weight - to make the very strong brine solution 1 Tbsp of sea salt added to each cup of filtered water. Then the crock is covered with a clean cloth, and set on the counter to ferment. It can be tasted each day, and any mould is skimmed off. When it achieves desired taste the kimchi can be packed into jars, covered with brine, and refrigerated. True wild lacto-bacilli ferments are never canned or pasteurized, as this kills off the vital healthy bacteria. It can keep almost indefinitely in the fridge, but will likely be eaten in short order! Wild ferments like this are invaluable for building immunity and a healthy digestive system, and should be a regular part of everyone's daily meal routine. Delicious!