Fermentation of Vegetables for Food

By
Ian A. Reid, 11-Nov-16 (NAGA member since 1991)

Introduction
This is the end of the gardening season and I have a few nutritious vegetables left in the ground.
I have no storage facilities and only a little extra space in my freezer. I have giver lots of vegetables away but still have lots left. Do I chop the vegetables up for the compost bin or do I ferment them? I choose to ferment them the way some of us did in the old days before the invention of electricity.

I will briefly answer the following questions; what, where, when, why and how.

Right off the bat, I must confess that I’m not an expert on the subject. I do have what I believe to be the best books on the subject that I’ll quote or at least refer to.

WHAT: Fermentation—Webster’s Dictionary definition: a chemical change with effervescence; esp: a transformation of an organic substance by the action of ferments. Sandor Elli Katz in his books a, Wild fermentation and the Art of FERMENTATION (Reference at the end) gives scientific explanations of fermentation.

What we need to know is that fermentation breaks down food into something nutritious: example (e.g.) Yogurt, kefir and sauerkraut. The literature also states no one has been poisoned so far as is known from eating fermented foods. It is stated that fermented foods are a powerful aid to digestion and a protection against disease.

WHERE: Any plant from your garden that hasn’t been sprayed with a chemical and is not rotten.
Any plant from anywhere else that is chemical free. Before starting the actual fermentation, all plants should be washed with chlorine free water. In addition, chlorine and fluoride free water must be used in the fermentation process.

WHEN: At any time, but generally, people ferment when there is an abundance of plant food available. At the end of the gardening seasoning is an ideal time providing surplus plants, in fairly good condition, are available before freezing weather sets in?

WHY: To prevent waste. Throwing good plants in the compost bin in not really a waste but a better choice is to make nutritious food that lasts well into the winter. Some authors state that fermenting food is as easy as 1, 2, and 3. Why not give it a try?

HOW: Please see the foods we are fermenting at the present time.

The two garlic bottles front left are in 2% brine. The bottle with air lock is self- brine sauerkraut. The others are 2% brine: Swiss chard stems, Collard greens stems.  bitter melon is self-brine. The bottles to the right are: 2% brine as follows: Back, Green Tomatoes, Beets and Radish, in front are Red Peppers.

Most authors recommend unrefined sea salt. These salts have the trace minerals intact. What you don’t want to use is iodized table salt with the material in it to make it run freely.

Brine Formulas
One tablespoon (15 ML) salt weighs about 14 g or ½ oz. It’s difficult to get an accurate measurement of salt as the grains are so large.

Pickle-it (www.pickl-it.com) has 3 brine formulas as follows:

a) SELF-BRINE: meaning that the juices in the plants provide the moisture, no additional water is necessary. E.g., Cabbage, beets, bitter melon, Swiss chard leaves.

Formula: 19 grams salt plus 3 pounds of vegetable. This works out to about 1.4 % brine. The calculation is: 3 lb x 16 oz/lb = 48 oz. Now, 48 oz x 28.35 g/oz = 1360 grams. Therefore, (19g/1360g) x 100 = 1.4% salt.

b) 2% BRINE: This means for vegetables that haven’t enough juice when shredded or cut up into small pieces to make enough juice when pressed down in the jar to cover the vegetables. 

E.g, green beans, broccoli, garlic.

Formula: 19 grams of salt plus 4 cups of chlorine free water. As stated above, this works out to be 2% brine.

c) CUKE-BRINE: Pickling cucumbers have 2 formulas:

Full sour:  48 grams of salt plus 4 cups of water = 5% brine. 

Half –sour: 33 grams salt plus 4 cups of water=3.5% brine.

Please note that the above formulas are using air locks to exclude air from the vegetables being fermented. See example in picture of jar with air lock. An air lock allows the release of CO2 and oxygen, creating anaerobic conditions. Without oxygen mold doesn’t form.

Fermenting without an air lock requires a little more salt. To give 2% brine, a cabbage weighing 1360 grams requires 1360 x 0.02 = 27g of salt . Some authors use less salt others more. If you don’t have a digital scale, you can use measuring spoons to measure the amount of salt necessary for your 2% brine. A spoon measure is not as accurate as a digital scale measure. I’ve weighed the following on my scales using unrefined sea salt.

Another important consideration to keep in mind is that HEAT kills bacteria (good and bad). The most nutritional benefit is the live bacterial cultures which are destroyed by cooking. This doesn’t mean that you can’t cook the fermented foods. It only means that all the beneficial bacteria when cooked are dead. Store bought pasteurized fermenting foods have no beneficial bacteria left, they are all dead.  Fermenting foods give off a gas. If you sealed the container while the food is fermenting the container will explode. After an extended period of time, maybe after a month or more, all the food used in the fermentation process is probably consumed. At this time the container can probably be safely sealed. Fermented foods won’t last forever. As a rule of thumb, I’d check the quality of the fermented food after it’s been in the fridge for say six months. 

Since I’m most familiar with making sauerkraut I’ll briefly explain the process. Acquire a red or white cabbage and carry out the following steps. 1 weigh it, 2 quarter it, 3 and shred it 4 calculate weight of salt to use. Use the 2% formula for self- brining. 5 in a large bowl sprinkle the salt over the shredded cabbage. 6 with your clean fingers and nails work the salt into the cabbage. Salt brings the juice out of the cabbage. This step is very important so do a thorough job.7 Ladle cabbage into a suitable (not metal) container within about one inch of its top. Squeeze down the cabbage by hand or other tool so that the juice rises above the top layers of cabbage. Any portion of the cabbage not covered by juice will spoil. When necessary add a little salt water so that the cabbage is always totally covered. 8 Attach air lock or weigh down the cabbage with a glass nearly full of water that fits inside the cabbage container. Other clean weights can be used to weigh down the cabbage. Wait 2 or 3 weeks for fermentation to take place in a shady location. After the fermentation stopes, the jar can be placed in the fridge.  Since there is quite a bit of salt in the sauerkraut, one should limit, for health reasons, the amount of sauerkraut consumed at one time.

In the vegetables that had the 2%brine, there is lots of juice left in the container. This juice can be used as a digestive tonic and as a soup stock. Don’t throw this juice out because it contains complex flavors and it is full of Lactobacilli. If the juice is a little salty, add a little more chlorine free water.

Health Benefits

Many health benefits have been claimed for sauerkraut. Source: Wikipedia

• It is a source of vitamins B, C, and K;[19] the fermentation process increases the bioavailability of nutrients rendering sauerkraut even more nutritious than the original cabbage.[20] It is also low in calories and high in calcium and magnesium, and it is a very good source of dietary fiber, folate, iron, potassium, copper and manganese.[19]

• If unpasteurized and uncooked, sauerkraut also contains live lactobacilli and beneficial microbes and is rich in enzymes. The fiber and supply of probiotics improve digestion and promote the growth of healthy bowel flora, protecting against many diseases of the digestive tract.[20][21]

• Sauerkraut has been used in Europe for centuries to treat stomach ulcers, and its effectiveness for soothing the digestive tract has been well established by numerous studies.[22]

• Raw sauerkraut is distinctly different from store-bought, canned sauerkraut. While many food manufacturers can or jar their kraut using heat in order to extend shelf life, raw sauerkraut is lacto-fermented and is alive with good bacteria and probiotics. Raw sauerkraut is fermented over days or weeks at room temperature, packaged into jars with its own brine solution, then refrigerated to preserve the vitamins, enzymes, and beneficial bacteria without any heat. The lactic acid creates beneficial intestinal flora, balances stomach pH both directions, and helps break down proteins.[23]

• During the American Civil War, the physician John Jay Terrell (1829–1922)[24][25] was able to successfully reduce the death rate from disease among prisoners of war; he attributed this to the practice of feeding his patients raw sauerkraut.[26]

• Sauerkraut is a time-honored folk remedy for canker sores. It is used by rinsing the mouth with sauerkraut juice for about 30 seconds several times a day, or by placing a wad of sauerkraut against the affected area for a minute or so before chewing and swallowing the kraut.[27]

• The October 23, 2002 issue of the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry reported that Finnish researchers found the isothiocyanates produced in sauerkraut fermentation inhibit the growth of cancer cells in test tube and animal studies.[28] A Polish study in 2010 concluded that "... induction of the key detoxifying enzymes by cabbage juices, particularly sauerkraut, may be responsible for their chemopreventive activity demonstrated by epidemiological studies and in animal models".[29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]

• Sauerkraut is high in the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, both associated with preserving ocular health.[37].

Closing

Remember, I said that I’m not an expert on the subject of fermentation. I hope that I’ve made no serious mistakes or gave wrong information. I’ve only scratched the surface. There are lots more to learn. If I’ve sparked your interest in this subject, I’ve accomplished my task.

Local libraries should stock the above two mentioned references. If they don’t carry them, they might order them. There are probably other good references on fermentation in our library. JustFood.ca occasionally offer canning workshops, in Ottawa, as well.

References

a. Wild fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz,Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River, Junction,Vermont, 187 pages, The flavor, nutrition and craft of Live Culture Foods.

b. The ART of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz,Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River, Junction,Vermont, 498 pages, an in-depth exploration of essential concepts and processes from around the world.

(Please note that I haven’t copied or quoted from the above noted two books as the material is Copyrighted.)

c. Wikipedia (numbered references as indicated above per Wikipedia page)

Take care, 

Ian Reid

Gardening Calendar - especially for new gardeners

If you are relatively new to gardening a relatively large garden, such as our annual plots (600 square feet), then the NAGA gardening calendar may help guide you and keep you on track. The calendar was created by our current NAGA Secretary, Helene Labbe. A big thanks to Helene for such a thorough and neat job.

While the general advice offered applies to any food garden (in Ottawa), the calendar is mostly relevant to the Annual Plots, since their productive time is restricted to between the NAGA spring and fall tilling.

The calendar is a 'pdf' document which is located at the top of the Gardening Tips page of the NAGA website.

Here is a direct link to the calendar:
NAGA Gardening Calendar

Print it out and stick on your fridge at home!

Happy gardening!

Getting ready

As daytime temperatures are rising, every gardener at NAGA wants to get into their gardens and start planting. Many are uncertain however, as to which vegetables can be direct seeded prior to the last spring frost, which in Ontario is around Victoria Day.

As soon as your soil is dry enough to work, you can begin seeding these types of crops:  

• Radish
• Onion Sets
• Spinach
• Beets
• Swiss Chard
• Lettuce
• Greens (beans) and Peas

Good luck!

Companion Planting

This is a section that appeared in Ritchie Garden News - April Newsletter 2013 

Companion Planting

With the terms "going green" and "organic" on everyone's mind these days, some might be interested in trying companion planting in the garden. The idea behind companion planting is planting varieties of plants together that would benefit from being positioned within close proximity of each other. A couple of phrases used in regards to companion planting are "nursery plants" and "trap crops". Nursery plants would include herbs, which are attractive to beneficial insects by providing shelter and food. Beneficial insects include pollinating insects and predator insects which are both beneficial to the other surrounding plants. Trap crops refer to plants that deter unwanted insects away from desired plants. Flowers, leaves, and roots of some plant material contain substances that create an odour and/or taste that naturally repels unwanted insects. Another belief about companion planting is the improved flavour and growth that may occur when certain varieties of edible plants are planted adjacent to one another.


Suggestions for compatible companion plantings in the garden are:

Alliums can confuse and deter slugs, aphids, carrot flies, and cabbage worm. They are ideal to plant near carrots and cabbage.


Flax is a multi-tasking plant. It repels potato bugs as well as improving the taste and growth of carrots and potatoes.


Mints enhance the growth and flavouring of cabbage and tomatoes while discouraging white cabbage moths.


Rue is not recommended for planting near cabbage, basil, or sage but it is an excellent beetle repellant for roses and raspberries.


Nasturtium is a great edible annual and it attracts predatory insects while repelling and distracting cabbage lopers, squash bugs, white flies, and cucumber beetles.


Petunia is another pest deterrent annual that repels and distracts leafhoppers, Japanese beetles, aphids, and asparagus beetles.


Marigolds are a tried and true pest deterrent. People have been using this annual for years to repel beetles, nematodes, and other garden pests. 

Ritchie Feed & Seed
1390 Windmill Lane, Ottawa, ON, K1B 4V5
613-741-4430 www.ritchiefeed.com

We are growing!

This past weekend almost 20 gardeners, and gardeners to be helped, did bring our current expansion project to fruition. Eight raised beds were started, to be completed later this fall. A big thanks to Lee Coates who organized the team.

Cucumber Wilt

Do your cucumber plants look like this?


If they do, you've got cucumber wilt.

When it comes time to dispose of your plants, please put them in a garbage bag and throw them out. Lets keep them out of the compost to limit the spread of the disease.

For more information on cucumber wilt, see http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/hortcrop/pp747w.htm

Links from our gardeners

Here are some interesting links from one of our members:

Summer Vegetable Gardening: http://www.your-vegetable-gardening-helper.com/summer-vegetable-gardening.html

Edible Bus Stop turns London transit routes into a network of community gardens

http://grist.org/list/edible-bus-stop-turns-london-transit-routes-into-a-network-of-community-gardens/

Volunteers with us this summer

We have volunteers helping us in our gardens this year!

A big thanks to the students from the Explore program who will be with us every Wednesday in July.

A big thanks to the folks at the Mathew House who will be helping us with some maintenance and in individual plots.

Cow pots

One of our gardeners wanted to share this blog post with you. You can purchase seed starting pots made from cow poo. Want to find out more?

http://ecoproductsthatwork.com/cowpots-gardening-with-cow-poo/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cowpots-gardening-with-cow-poo

Got Potato Beetles? Read this!

Here is some advice on how to combat Colorado Potato Beetles from one of our gardeners

We seem to have a plague of Colorado Potato Beetles this year. If we let them get going, they are going to be very difficult to get under control They are voracious and if you don't keep a good handle on them, they can eat a potato patch right down to the ground in a few days. (I saw them do this to Lee Coates' garden one year). They are also very fond of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers etc.

Over the years, I have come across a few hints for dealing with them. There are several stages at which they can be controlled with a bit of luck and work. The adults are those large yellow and black beetles. The larvae start out as small black things and as they grow older and larger, they become orange and more shaped like the beetle (but soft). The eggs are laid on the underside of the leaves in small clusters, and are bright gold and pointed, shaped a bit like miniature rice grains. The entire cluster is usually about 2 cm or so across. 

1. Wear a rubber gloves if you are in the least bit squeamish and carry a can half full of soapy water. Pick or knock the insects into the can. I haven't tried it, but you can likely spray the small black stage with soapy water. There are often too many of these to pick. You can also just squish them between two fingers. 
2. Examine the underside of the leaves for the egg clusters. These can be crushed between your fingers. 
3. I've found Diatomaceous Earth to be fairly effective to control what you miss by hand picking. It consists of finely ground fossilized sea shells. It isn't harmful to animals or humans (but like any powder, you don't want to breath in a whole bunch of it). I buy it in bulk at Arbor Environmental on Bank Street. I put mine in a squirt bottle and sort of puff it onto the plant. Don't forget to do the underside of the leaves. It needs to be reapplied after a rain storm. It doesn't hurt the plant, but it will also kill pollinating insects. Diatomaceous Earth is sometimes called 'Fossil Flower' and can be an ingredient in other insecticides. It is a mechanical control. The sharp edges of the ground shells pierce the insect and cause it to lose its body fluids and die. Sort of 'death by a thousand cuts'. Diatomaceous Earth is also fairly effective for the striped cucumber beetle. Dust the undersides of the leaves and the stem where it comes out of the soil to prevent the beetles from following the stem down and laying their eggs on the roots of your squash, melon, pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini etc. 

Hope that this information helps hold them at bay until we can get to the workshops. 

Jayne Huntley

First plant a row delivery!

A huge thank you to contributors from Debra Dynes Family House and the Ottawa Food Bank.

Today's delivery included:

• 2 lbs garlic scapes.
• 5 lb lettuce
• 2.5 lb zucchini
• 2.75 lbs swiss chard
• 1.25 lbs kale

Later today there were more donations that will be dropped off tomorrow. They are being kept cool until then. This donation includes

• 5.5 lbs onions
• 1.25 lbs garlic scapes
• 1 lb lettuce 

The Nepean Allotment Gardeners donated a total of 16.75 lbs food this week. What an impressive beginning!

If you have any procduce to donate, please contact Louise at donohue.miller@sympatico.ca

Plant a Row, Grow a Row kick off

On Monday June 4 NAGA officially kicked off our participation in the Plant a Row, Grow a Row program with our community partner the Debra Dynes Family House. A great time was had by all. Do you want to participate in Plant a Row, Grow a Row with us? More details coming soon!

From left to right NAGA Chairman Mike Chebbo, Ottawa Food Bank's Community Harvest program coordinator Jason Gray, Debra Dynes Family House coordinator Barbara Carroll, Ward 9 Councillor Keith Egli.

Bales of straw available

Bales of straw will be available on Saturday June 9, at 10am at the gardens. The cost will be $6/bale.

If you are planning on getting some, please email Mike Chebbo at nagagardens@gmail.com

Thanks!

NAGA Grows a row for the Debra Dynes Family House

Nepean Allotment Gardens are participating in Plant a Row, Grow a Row benefiting the Debra Dynes Family House!

We are having a kick off celebration Monday June 4 at 7pm. Festivities will include:

• Light refreshments
• Free seeds to participating gardeners, donated by McKenzie Seeds
• A look at Plant a Row's growing guide
• A visit from special guests Keith Egli, our ward 9 councillor and Barbara Carroll, the coordinator of Debra Dynes Family House and Jason Gray, coordinator for the Ottawa Food Bank's Community Harvest program.

If you are not a member of the garden, but still want to contribute, please contact Amanda at a.lncstr@gmail.com.

We hope to see you there!

The Gardens are ready!

All this past week several gardeners have been busy staking out the plots so that everyone can get in the dirt. The staking was completed Thursday night. 

Get growing guys.

Spring Clean Up 2012

Wow! What a great turnout we had this year. Around 20 gardeners came to the garden on Sunday April 22 to clean up the gardens. Thanks to everyone who came out to help! We all appreciate your efforts. I forgot to bring my camera, but here are some pictures I took the next day!

We empttied the small composts...

...into the large compost pile. Whoa! That pile is higher than the shed!

We picked up rocks.

We picked up garbage.

We weeded the front flower beds.

We tidied the shed and painted tools.

See you next time!

Amanda

Seedy Saturday

Seedy Saturday is coming to Ottawa

Ron Kolbus Lakeside Centre, 105 Greenview Av

Saturday March 3, 2012 from 10-3. Come celebrate local food, farming, and gardening at the annual Seedy Saturday in Ottawa. It's free and all are welcome!

Join in the annual seed exchange and sale, featuring an organic mini-market, garden talks, and workshops, a swap table, and organic snacks. Workshop seating is limited, and here's the line-up:

10:30 - Gardening on Small Plots: tips, tricks, and recommended vegetables - this workshop will be hosted by USC Canada's Genevieve Grossenbacher, who also helps run the nearby Our Little Farm with her husband.

11:30 - Garlic Pests: A look at how to control nematodes, hosted by Paul Pospisil

12:30 - Grow your Own Dry Beans: This workshop will be hosted by USC Canada Board Member and organic farmer Daniel Brisebois from Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm.

13:30 - How to Plant for Seed: A beginners workshop on how to plant for successful backyard seed saving in the coming season. This one will be hosted by Kate Green of USC Canada and shared with a local seed saver extraordinaire from theJust Food Community.

Come early to make sure youget space! And the schedule is subject to change, so be sure to check it when you arrive. Contact: greta@seeds-organic.com Tel: 613-521-8648