More on Sauerkraut

Last year I wrote about my experiences with sauerkraut after the first few batches.  I'm doing more now, and have learned a few things.

Another sauerkraut resource is makesauerkraut.com.  It has an extensive amount of information in the form of step-by-step instructions for crocks and jars, recipes, and reviews of various fermenting tools (including jars, weights, airlocks, crocks, and more).

I start by chopping up cabbage with a knife.  I don't use a mandolin or food processor (neither of which I have).  Impressed by the admonitions to be precise on the makesauerkraut.com, I weighed the cabbage as I cut it.

Two pounds is indeed about equal to a processed head, but I had some variance. Much of the weight is in the solid core, which I did not include, but even with that and some of the outer leaves removed, some heads were around two pounds, and some were substantially more.

I was originally going for 10 pounds, because I have a 5-liter crock and 2 pounds per liter is a general benchmark.  However, as can be seen, my cabbage is pretty coarsely cut, so eight pounds filled the crock leaving barely enough room to get the weights in.  Think of it this way:  Assuming equal density, a pound of sand occupies less space in a container than a pound of gravel.

I mixed it up in two-pound batches, because those are easy to deal with.  I'm using a bit less salt than recommended on the makesauerkraut.com pages, sticking with one tablespoon per two-pound batch.  It has worked well for me in the past.  So far, I haven't had any failures with cabbage.

After salting and squeezing a bit, followed by some gloved-fist crushing and stomping with my wood bat, I sealed it up.  I plan to let it go the full 28 days.  As previously, I added a little salt water to the mix because I didn't have good coverage from just the cabbage's liberated juice alone.  I added less than a cup of water that had salt added at the rate of 1.5 tablespoons per quart (or 1.125 teaspoons per cup).

I'm planning to let it go a bit longer because I've learned that I was indeed stopping my fermentations too soon, as mentioned in the previous post.  The gaseous phase is only one of the steps in the fermentation process, and stopping things when that concludes is too soon.  Another factor is that now that it is winter, my house is around 70 so the temperature should be favorable.  We shall see how it goes.  The quantity I'm doing this time around is the same as last time, except that it's all in the crock rather than split between crock and glass jar.  This is the first time I can't see what's going on.  It is, however, bubbling, so that is a good sign.

Rose Campion and Violets

Long ago, someone planted rose campion in the yard.  It is a biennial flowering plant; the first year it sprouts and grows close to the ground.  The second year, it sends up stalks, blooms, then dies.

I have it cropping up everywhere, including in the middle of the yard.  It's very effective at seeding itself.  From my perspective, it has some advantages:

1)  The flowers are pretty nice and it will bloom to some degree for much of the summer.  The picture was taken on May 5 last year and it bloomed into August.

2)  It thrives in conditions of utter neglect (this is its most important attribute).  It survived for years and spread with no care whatsoever, and last summer / fall in Georgia was seriously dry (almost no rain for weeks on end).  It did fine.

Another flower that is only around for a short time is the violet.  They are native to Georgia.  In early spring they bloom.  This picture was taken about March 15.   The flowers are only around for a couple of weeks, however, though the leaves persist.

I notice them mostly in areas with filtered sun or shade, though they may grow in areas that get more sun.  As natives, they also grow with no TLC and so are much appreciated.