Welcome to the Kentucky Sustainable Living Blog!
Why are you writing a blog you ask? I’m so glad you did! Jason and I recently hosted our 3rd Homestead Meetup in Bowling Green, KY last weekend (January 2026). We’ve had several people request more information about the fermenting workshop shared by Dana Russell from Russell Homestead KY. We thought it might be a good idea to start a blog so we could have a landing place to share information with our KSL community. I’ve got ideas for 2-3 fermenting blogs so buckle up buttercup and put your learning cap on!
~ Shelli
Fermenting: Low-Tech Food, High-Impact Health
History of fermentation according to AI: The history of fermented foods spans millennia, beginning with accidental discoveries of preservation around 12,000 years ago (dairy, fruit), evolving into intentional practices by ancient Egyptians (beer, sourdough) and Chinese (rice wine, soy products) for food security, and later developing complex cultures like yogurt, cheese, kimchi, and kombucha. This ancient art, relying on microbes to transform foods, predates scientific understanding until Louis Pasteur's 19th-century discoveries, but remains crucial for flavor, preservation, and nutrition.
Fermentation is not cooking. It’s more like supervised neglect. You add salt, massage cabbage like it’s had a long day, shove it in a jar, and then walk away while microscopic organisms throw a party. And somehow, miraculously, the cabbage doesn’t rot. It improves its attitude, boosts your gut health, and becomes sauerkraut.
Key health benefits of fermentation:
· Improve gut health
· Enhance digestion & vitamin absorption
· Increase nutrient availability
· Reduce inflammation
· Strengthen immune system
· Brain connection to gut (Can influence serotonin production in the gut, potentially easing anxiety and depression)
· Increase metabolism resulting in weight management
· Aids in chronic disease prevention (diabetes/heart disease)
· Promotes sleep
· Induces detoxification
· It’s MOOD FOOD y’all!!
Fermented foods are rich in probiotics, you know….those things you hear about all the time on commercials? Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that support digestion, immune function, and even mental health. Your gut hosts trillions of microbes, and fermenting is how you feed the good ones instead of letting the chaos microbes run the place.
Salt is the bouncer at this party. It keeps the bad microbes out and lets the good bacteria (lactobacillus—your new best friends) do their thing. Too little salt and you get moldy cabbage soup. Too much salt and you get crunchy regret. But just right? Magic.
Science backs this up:
- Fermentation increases bioavailability of nutrients, making vitamins and minerals easier to absorb¹
- Probiotics support gut barrier function and immune response²
- A healthy gut microbiome is linked to reduced inflammation and improved mood³
In short: fermented foods pre-digest your vegetables so your body doesn’t have to work overtime. It’s the original convenience food.
And from a homesteading and sustainability perspective? Fermenting:
- Preserves food without electricity
- Reduces food waste
- Requires only salt, time, and a jar
- Turns excess harvests into shelf-stable nutrition
Cabbage today. Sauerkraut tomorrow. Fewer trips to town. Better digestion. Everyone wins.
Trust the Funk (It’s Doing Important Work)
If it bubbles, it’s alive.
If it smells strong, it’s active.
If it tastes sour, it’s finished its glow-up.
Fermenting teaches patience, self-reliance, and the deeply satisfying skill of feeding your family with microbes you grew yourself.
The Basic Formula (Memorize This)
Vegetables + 2% salt by weight + anaerobic environment + time
Or, if math isn’t your thing:
- About 4 teaspoons salt per quart jar of vegetables
Beginner Ferments to Try
- Sauerkraut (see recipe below)
- Carrot sticks with garlic
- Fermented pickles
- Dilly beans
Why Salt Is the Real Hero
Salt:
- Pulls water out of cabbage, creating its own brine
- Prevents harmful bacteria from moving in uninvited
- Encourages beneficial bacteria to ferment sugars into lactic acid
- Makes cabbage taste like it went to culinary finishing school
In other words, salt turns cabbage from “meh” into “put that on everything.”
Simple Sauerkraut Recipe (No PhD Required)
Ingredients
- 1 medium cabbage (about 2 lbs)
- 4 teaspoons non-iodized salt (Redmond’s Real Salt, Celtic sea salt or kosher)
- Optional flavor boosters:
- Caraway seeds
- Garlic (gives a nutrient boost to EVERYTHING)
- Juniper berries
- Black peppercorns
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Clean glass jar (quart or larger)
- Something to mash with (hands work great)
- Small weight or clean rock (optional but helpful)
Step 1: Prep the Cabbage
Remove outer leaves (save one). Slice cabbage thinly. Pretend you’re opening a fancy restaurant and presentation matters.
Step 2: Salt & Massage
Put cabbage in the bowl, sprinkle with salt, and massage like you’re kneading stress out of your week. After 5–10 minutes, it will release liquid and look sad but juicy. This is correct.
Step 3: Pack the Jar
Stuff cabbage tightly into the jar. Pour any leftover brine over it. Press it down so the cabbage is fully submerged. Use the reserved cabbage leaf on top as a “lid” if needed.
Step 4: Weight It Down
Add a weight to keep everything below the brine. Oxygen is the enemy here—this is an introvert process.
Step 5: Ferment
Loosely cap the jar (or “burp” it daily). Keep at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
- After 3–5 days: mild and crunchy
- After 1–2 weeks: classic sauerkraut
- After 3–4 weeks: bold, tangy, confident
Taste as you go. Trust your senses.
Step 6: Refrigerate
Once it tastes amazing, refrigerate to slow fermentation. Congrats—you’ve harnessed controlled decay.
Pro Tips (a.k.a. Don’t Panic):
- White film on top? Likely kahm yeast. Skim it. Not dangerous.
- Mold that’s fuzzy or colorful? Toss it. Compost learns from mistakes.
- Your nose knows! Two facts about questionable ferments. “Your nose knows” and “When in doubt, throw it out”
- Too salty? Rinse lightly before eating.
- Too sour? Eat it anyway. Your gut will thank you later.
- Healing Crisis? Ease into eating & drinking ferments, start with 1-2 tablespoons daily to avoid “healing crisis”
- Broader spectrum? Alternate among ferments to get a broader spectrum of beneficial bacteria/yeast/fungi
Final Thoughts from the Fermentation Front
Fermenting with salt is a lesson in patience, humility, and trusting bacteria you can’t see. It’s resilient food for resilient people. It’s gut health, food preservation, and sustainability in one humble jar.
Plus, you get to say things like, “Oh this? I fermented it myself,” which is deeply satisfying.
Let the microbes work.
Let the cabbage transform.
Trust the funk.
Have a wonderful day!
~ Shelli
(This blog post has been created with LOTS of oversight from Dana, our Fermenting Queen!)
References
- Marco, M. L. et al. Health benefits of fermented foods: microbiota and beyond. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 2017.
- Hill, C. et al. Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 2014.
- Cryan, J. F., & Dinan, T. G. Mind-altering microorganisms: the impact of the gut microbiota on brain and behaviour. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2012.