if you hang around long enough, you will most likely find jars of vegetables fermenting on our counter or a crock on the shelf boasting a large amount of kraut. open our fridge & i promise, the bottom shelf is strictly designated for fermentations only. all the work of my husband & his love for good bacteria, probiotics, healthy gut flora & foods that are alive.
come over for a beer & conversation often leads to a bit of farming, growing your own food & luke’s love of sandor katz. stay until deep into the night & the wee early hours of the morning & you will find luke chopping vegetables & creating the perfect brine long after i’ve fallen into a sleepy slumber.
a few sundays ago, i found him packing up fermented pickles into large ball jars. the whole process is incredibly beautiful to me – his love for it all & the vibrant colors – so i snuck around capturing a few moments. the leaves? yes, gleaned from our backyard & promised to keep the pickles crunchy.
i am not the expert here- in fact, let me just share with you his thoughts on fermentation right now-but i do notice those little stacks of books next to his nightstand & the very important reference books on his desk.
here are just a few all about fermenting, brewing & making with food:
– wild fermentation & the art of fermentation by sandor katz
–homemade soda by andrew schloss
– strong waters by scott mansfield
– beer craft by william bostwick
– nourishing traditions by sally fallon
i sure do miss him this morning, but he’ll be home tonight for dinner.
love,
natalie
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don’t forget to enter the peach butter giveaway! it ends tomorrow morning!
we celebrated a day of rest on sunday, at home together. we read, i baked. luke fermented some vegetables from the farm & huck took a nap. i made a delicious salad of local arugula & luke warmed up eggplant parmesan leftovers in the oven. i stayed in bed for a good long time while luke did a bit of journaling on the front porch.
we have been thinking a lot about taking a day of rest each week, a sabbath. we decided to commit to six weeks of intentional rest on sunday as a sort-of experiment in our home. i have already noticed in myself a hesitancy to rest, a difficulty to trust that my to-do list will be checked off another day. i recently read somewhere, pinterest perhaps, this quote: “stop the glorification of busy.” it really stuck with me, got me thinking, made me stop. i often glorify busy as some sort of earned title. if my calendar is filled up & i’m still working on sunday, i must be successful. let’s be honest, though. my day of rest was much more enjoyable than a sunday of emails & laundry. my computer doesn’t need to see me more than my husband. turning a page of a book is much more comforting than opening a new tab. i’m tired of busy.
so instead of pinning delicious recipes of peach preserves, i actually preserved. it’s been far too long & my canning supplies were tired of gathering dust in the garage. i spent the evening chopping, boiling, simmering, mashing, & sealing peaches into ten jars of peach butter. perfect on top of sunday morning’s biscuits.
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| labels from second issue of taproot |
i want to share a bit of my sunday’s rest with you. comment below with any thoughts you might have about today’s entry or any experiences you have with setting aside a day for rest. i’ll mail one lucky reader a jar of peach butter along with a few surprises & a handwritten note. i’ll choose a winner on thursday morning, september 20th, & mail the package the following monday, september 24th. i’m excited to hear your thoughts! closed!
love,
natalie
luke’s party was so much fun! all of our friends were here with good brew & delicious food. we roasted marshmallows for s’mores & drank wine from mason jars. throughout the night i overheard several conversations around the topics of fermented foods, gardening, brewing beer & various art related things. these are my people.
love,
natalie