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I worked some more today on my “one tool” survival shelter, built with just a knife. This stuff is so much harder and slower than it appears on tv. 🤷‍♂️

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building a survival shelter with just a knife. 

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My first outing with this knife. It’s freaking fantastic. 

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Prying rotten stumps out of the hillside... I imagine this is the same satisfaction the dentist feels pulling a bad tooth 😂

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Fermenting 101

I started another batch of fermented onions today. The first jar was so tasty and so easy to add to meals.

While I’m far from an expert yet, I’ve come to a few conclusions now about the process:

1. At least while you’re a beginner, successful fermentation is more about chemistry than it is recipe. Get the ingredients right. Use coarse kosher or sea salt, fresh vegetables, and distilled water. Keep everything clean and sterile. Your goal is to create an environment in which a particular chemical process --i.e., lacto-fermentation --- can take place. 

2. If you don’t see fizz and bubbles within a day or so, something isn’t right. 

3. Taste test along the way. When the taste and texture are where you want them to be, remove the airlock and put the jar in the fridge. The fermentation will continue there, but at a much, much slower rate.

I’ll put these two jars in a place that is warm-ish and away from direct sunlight. They should be checked every other day to make sure nothing is going awry. You may need to skim them on occasion.

I can’t wait to start fermenting hot sauces this summer. By then, I should have a better sense of how all this works and how to produce a consistent process. Mango-habanero salsa, anyone?? 

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Freshly dehydrated Granny Smith apples... I add just a bit of cinnamon for flavor. 😛

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We opened a jar of the red sauerkraut that has been fermenting for the last few weeks. It smells delicious. It’s a mix of cabbage, beets, and carrots.

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2020 seems like the perfect time to start making melee weapons 😂

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These two jars are bubbling away now. Lots of fermentation. There’s a bit of a learning curve to the airlock lids. As I discovered, you need to leave an inch of headspace above the glass weight. The inch occupied by the weight doesn’t count as headspace. Anything less than an inch of open headspace and the brine will push itself up into the airlock. I discovered this was happening in the blue jar and had to drain off 3-4oz. of liquid. 

I’ll check these each day, but for now they can just do their thing. In 3-4 weeks, we will ready for a taste test.

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First trial run with lacto-fermentation is underway. This is a sauerkraut mix, with beets and carrots. No idea if it will turn out or not. 🧙🏻‍♂️🧞‍♂️🧚🏻‍♂️ #fermentation #lactofermentation #droppingsickbeets (at Germantown, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHoONRRDlxfhpweGMrWtrjDqXRYD-Kfd3Q6PHk0/?igshid=1c9zzunuq9rnh

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Sunday afternoon fence repairs. Could have been worse given the wind we had. 💨🌊 (at Germantown, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHn9NMvDwlIvyxgvFR_x8NePiosktAmxd6EEgI0/?igshid=1w705f3kho2i9

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Beautiful day to turn the big compost pile. It’s pretty dank stuff. Dog included for scale. 😚 #compost #compostbin #abbi #greatpyreneesmix (at Germantown, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CHWAs2BDJ_tkWtm_5HHvdvi26SklmfL8VVHAlY0/?igshid=6q1oz0nsqa5b

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Condor Hudson Bay #knives #bushcraft (at Germantown, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CG5x3QQjguFTic8F_sMYxrrSxCSHByL-oBGksE0/?igshid=1sxag97ia3jw0

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I started shelling the popcorn today...long way still to go #gardenharvest #popcorn (at Germantown, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGlXBH8DhF-8776fNLTe03TLr3UOb39NEtMe0o0/?igshid=qtfz07x8d275

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Perfect conditions in the greenhouse now to finish drying the popcorn I picked yesterday. We’ll start shelling it in a few days. #growyourownfood #greenhouses #foodpreservation https://www.instagram.com/p/CGA2otxjidPB-2GnEmfGdevA6EGaoGkgP9fHaw0/?igshid=cn5zil34yaoy