Fermented Veggies, YUM!

This was a very interesting process.  I was hoping after this my whole family would just be crazy in love with these veggies and gobble them all up! Was thinking, "What an easy way to get veggies and more probiotics in their systems!"Not the case at all!!!

Two out of the five of us like these, me being one of the two, feel like that doesn't count.  Don't know that I'll be doing this again for my family, not because it was hard or anything like that.  I get discouraged when at least majority doesn't like something I make.  With all that being said, let's get started so you can try with your family~

I decided to ferment carrots, green beans and asparagus.  I totally CHEATED!!! I purchased the pre-cut veggies.  Yes, I know, I'm so lazy!

I used wide mouth quart jars, makes it little easier for the stuffing process.  Place 1-2 sprigs of dill (is sprigs a real word?!), 3 cloves of garlic and 2 tsp pickling spices in bottom of jar.

In my research, I read several times about placing grape leaves in the jar with your veggies to help them become crispier.  I found it impossible for me to find a grape leaf this time of year so I opted out of that step. 

Next add the chopped veggies to the jar, jam them in like I did, nice and tight! I gathered a helper for this step.

Now we will make our brine. This is very important, DO NOT use chlorinated water because you might get the wrong kind of bacteria to grow in your veggies, YUCK! Be careful!

So per every cup of filtered water add 1 1/2 tsp salt. I found that my quarts held about 2 cups filtered water that makes 3 tsp salt for each quart.

Add the brine to the veggies then put on the top.

Let the fun begin fermenting! They will sit about 3-10 days.  Yeah I know that is a large day range but you just do a taste test to determine when they are fermented to your liking.  The veggies will get tangier the longer it ferments. After a day or so you will notice bubbles on side of jar, that is a good sign it is fermenting well!

I let the air out once a day sometimes twice a day. Keep in mind, pressure is building in the jars, don't want it to explode on ya! I don't know if it will but I did just in case. 

Another side note, my brother told me that the green beans and asparagus will take little longer to ferment then the carrots because they have less natural sugar in them. They may not even ferment as much as the carrots.  He's a professional on this topic, check out him and his wife's products at Ancient Awakenings.

I liked mine after 4 days so then I transferred jars from counter to fridge. Enjoy~