LACTO-FERMENTED VEGETABLES
Jul 03, 2025

The Healing Power of Fermented Vegetables for Gut Health

You've probably heard of sauerkraut, kimchi, and sour dill pickles, right? These are all examples of lacto-fermented vegetables—a traditional form of food preservation that has supported human health for centuries. Before refrigeration, lacto-fermentation was a primary method for preserving the harvest through the winter. If you find yourself with a garden full of cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, or beets, consider transforming them into a few jars of tangy, probiotic-rich vegetables. When stored properly, these fermented foods can last for months—if they don’t get devoured first! Beyond preservation, they nurture your gut microbiome—your inner garden of health and healing.

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FRESH NETTLE-PARSLEY PESTO-1
Mar 30, 2024

Fresh Nettle Pesto Recipe (dairy-free)

Nettles are one of the first wild foods to emerge in the spring, and, undoubtedly, one of the most nutrient-dense wild plants! They thrive in rich, moist soil, and in sunny locations. You may find them blanketing a deciduous forest floor in early spring before the tree canopy emerges, or in an open, mowed field.

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Sep 07, 2012

Simple Ways to Preserve Fruit

This time of year the fruit is falling off the trees and many people wonder how they can preserve it. A lot of fresh fruit ends up rotting. Maybe this is part of nature's grand design to add compost to the soil surrounding the roots? I don't know, but this time of year is very busy for most folks who have fruit trees and berry bushes.

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HOW TO MAKE LACTO-FERMENTED VEGETABLES
Feb 13, 2012

How to Make Lacto-Fermented Vegetables

Lacto-fermented vegetables are cultured vegetables. You've probably heard of sauerkraut, kim chi, and sour dill pickles, right? These are all forms of lacto-fermentation. Many people use whey as a starter but it is not necessary as long as you use enough salt. Making your own lacto-fermented vegetables is so easy that once you start you'll be hooked! Traditionally, lacto-fermentation was used to preserve the harvest and store vegetables for the winter. If you have a garden full of cabbage, cauliflower, beets, carrots, and green beans and don't know how to store them all, consider making a few batches of lacto-fermented vegetables. These veggies can be stored in your refrigerator for months....if they last that long!

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Fresh Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce
Sep 30, 2011

Fresh Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce

This recipe in not the traditional way to make pasta sauce using fresh tomatoes. I take the easy and fast route. I just don't have time to remove the skins and seeds from 20 pounds of tomatoes each time I make sauce!

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Jul 15, 2010

How to Make Honey-Sweetened Jam

Homemade jam is usually so full of sugar, but it doesn't have to be! Using Pomona's Pectin, you can make low-sugar, honey-sweetened, or fruit juice-sweetened homemade jam. This particular pectin comes from citrus peel. The jelling is activated by calcium water (monocalcium phosphate), which comes with the pectin. It’s so easy to make jam from all of your freshly picked fruit of the season. Making and canning jam is one of the best ways to preserve the harvest! Last year, I experimented quite a bit with some of the hundreds of pounds of fruit we harvested.

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Sep 02, 2009

Honey-Kissed Peach-Blueberry Muffins

The frost peaches are in and we have surely picked our share. 130 pounds that is! I have spent the weekend pitting, cutting, freezing, and dehydrating these sweet, juicy little morsels of summer nutrition. A way to remember summer, eat local, reduce our carbon footprint? Or just enjoy fresh!

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