We came home and found some of the chickens running free in the courtyard. After some investigating we caught the girls sneaking under the gate. Those crazy chickens!

Kim Chi

Here we are making kim chi. Its korean pickled veggies, usually pretty spicy. We used 6 heads of baby bok choi, 4 leeks, 1 1/2 bunches of scallions, 2 habaneros, 4 carrots, and a bunch of garlic and ginger. Traditionally people use Korean hot pepper, however, habaneros were easier to find. We chopped up the baby bok choi and placed it in a big pot with sea salt and water. Placed a plate that fit snugly into the pot and weighed it down with a heavy can making sure the cabbage (bok choi) stayed submerged. Let it sit for at least 2 hours. We rinsed the bok choi saving the salted water it was in. Next we shredded carrots, and chopped the ginger, garlic, habaneros, scallions and leeks.

Mixed them all together, and put them into our Harsch fermenting crock. Placed the weighted stones over the veggies and added the leftover salt water over it until our veggies were covered. Then we waited, for about 2 weeks.

The beautiful thing about the Harsch fermenter is that there's no skimming the gunk that forms off the top (because there is none, unlike usual fermentation vessels). The only duty is making sure the reservoir is filled with water. The water-filled reservoir allows the fermentation gases to escape without allowing air (and airborne contaminants) to enter. BEAUTIFUL!

Yummy Kale Chips

Super easy amazing kale chips. We just cut the big woody stem out of the leaves and then toss with olive oil, sea salt and cayenne. Lay 'em out on the dehydrator dry on low for about 6 hours. Better than bacon!! (well almost)