Making Sauerkraut

We have plenty of veg still growing in the garden and I need to be more disciplined about making use of it all.

I am considering reducing the size of our veg garden for next spring, which might mean less work but greater efficiency with the space.

We currently have a great deal of onions in storage that need using. They are strong and I find that I avoid them due to the crying they invoke. 

We have lots of cabbages that need to be used and beetroot and turnip that are coming ready in mass numbers. Little may be more when it come to our veg garden!

It is hard to get around to everything and I hate to see waste, although the pigs enjoy the wheelbarrows coming!

I decided this week to try sauerkraut, to use up some cabbages and in the pursuit of healthy fermented veg to help my family's gut flora.

I got out my bible of health - Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, and looked up the sauerkraut recipe on page 92.

Ingredients:

1 cabbage

1 tbsp caraway seeds

1 tbsp sea salt

4 tbsp whey

I washed the cabbage and shredded it into a bowl. 

I added the salt, whey from yogurt but omitted the caraway seed as I didn't have them.

I used my hand to massage the cabbage mixture together and help release the juices.

I placed an over turned bowl on top and left it in the warm kitchen to start to ferment.

The recipe says to leave it like this for three days and then place in the fridge for use.

Fingers crossed!

Addition:

I later packed the sauerkraut into a kilner jar and topped it up with whey, as I had it spare from straining yogurt to make Greek yogurt.