The first day of the conference really was a setup day for vendors. You had the opportunity to sign up for a class from carpentry to beekeeping, butchering, cheese making, fermenting, marketing, and more. Ed chose to do the marketing class, and I did the Fermenting course. Doug and Stacy are beautiful people. They are more than happy to help you in your quest to be self-sustainable.
Doug and Stacy have a very famous Youtube page. Anyone out there that is into videos for homesteading may have come across them. If you haven't, I suggest you do. There are lots and lots of videos out there they have done that can help you out.
They also have a website that has their videos on, plus Stacey has created a cookbook, plus they are taking preorders for her fermenting book that will be out later this year. I do have a copy of the cookbook, which has some beautiful things. One of which is fermented ketchup that we made during the class. Is it every good? It only takes three days to ferment, and after it is done, you store it in the frig. Personally, I think if it's no better than in flavor than the commercial varieties, it is right up there. It's excellent.
The class started with history. We don't realize how far back humanity has been doing and creating these ways to preserve food. Some of them, if not all, have been found out by accident, and we have learned that if we salt cabbage and let it rest for some time, it will last us through winter and keep us feeling good. We talked about veggie ferments, dairy, fruit, and even kombucha. The class was very diverse in information, and we, of course, got to make several ferments to bring home.
There are two significant ways to ferment with salt. Either simply salting the vegetables as in making sauerkraut or using a brine. We actually did both. The first was sauerkraut; Stacy's is slightly different from what I have made in the past. Ed really doesn't like sauerkraut. He has only ever had it made from just cabbage. The one we made had several ingredients in including caraway seed and other veggies. She had brought some along for us all to try. It's delicious, personally, I like just cabbage sauerkraut, the one we made was fantastic.
The next thing we made was fermented carrot sticks. Those are done with brine and them too. You can add some spices and herbs actually; you could add pickling spice just like you do with pickles. She had them. We didn't make any but dilly beans. You can use the brining method to pickle any kind of veggie, and the best time is known in the fall to preserve the last bit of harvest from the garden.
The first ferment we made for the day was honeyed garlic. I have read and heard of it before; I was always leary of trying it. My mind was thinking sweet garlic. That isn't actually true; we got to have some samples on that as well. After it has been fermented, which does take months, you can eat the garlic and use the honey. You know the garlic is garlic, it's not overly sweet, and it's not excessively strong. The honey, to me, didn't have a strong garlic taste either. It is very unique and highly healthy. You can do this with other things as well, such as ginger, turmeric, even elderberries. You can also do a combination of several. I am actually going to be making not only ginger and turmeric honey. I am going to make a combination of ginger, turmeric, and garlic. To see how I we like them.
The last one of the day was kombucha. Ed hates it; when we first met, I was making it. He despises it back then. It was just a plan. I didn't know anything about a second ferment which is when you had your flavor. I wasn't going to take any kombucha home to make. Then I decided I will and do a second ferment to flavor it.
I had an amazing first day of the conference. Learned so much and, in this case, got to bring home some goodies. More tomorrow.
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