Garden status: Sunday Aug 18, 2013

Picked two more 5 gal buckets of cucumbers.  The plants look like they have about finished, but I thought that last weekend too!  I am going to take these back and pickle them down in SS.  Tking the Mrs Wages mix too, since its soo much faster and easier.  I do, however, want to try doing the fermented variety and I do have a pickle crock down in SS -- maybe this week?

Sauerkraut! I shredded my cabbage (24 lbs/8 heads - there are more heads left!) and added about 7/8 C of kosher salt.

Just about filled the 5 gallon crock, but after salting and pressing its only about 1/4 to 1/3 full.  I put a plate on top with another smaller croc filled with water on top of the plate to keep the solid cabbage submerged under the brine.

Be careful shredding!  I got a small cut on the tip of one finger and i WAS being careful!  I put a glove on that hand to protect the product and fortunately the salt didn't get to the cut (and the blood didn't get in the cabbage).

UPDATE: I found the National Center for Food Preservation recipe for sauerkraut! Good news!  I was pretty close with the cabbage/salt ratio!  I will try to follow the NCHFP recipe for the rest of the procedure! :)