Cabbage Harvest 2014 - Making Sauerkraut

Our cabbage crop for 2014 was sub-par, late, and disappointing.  As with all things, we try to learn from our mistakes and adjust our processes to better things for the next year.  Next Fall/Winter crop, I'm going to start all my cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower in seed pots in the summer and transplant the seedlings once established.  I think that planting the seeds directly in the ground at the height of the summer heat and bug pressure puts strain on the plants and stunts them or slows them down.  From now on I intend on giving them a better head start.

That being said, the crop wasn't a total failure.  We made a great Cabbage Roll casserole the day before yesterday.  Tricia made cole slaw and homemade egg rolls with some of the rest.  She also shredded and blanched 4 quarts of shredded cabbage that we'll freeze and we have one of the crispers in the fridge full of cabbage heads for eating fresh.  I think we can better our crop, though, with a few changes.

Cabbage Patch

It is warming up in the 70's now and the worms and bugs will soon come out of their dormancy and discover a nice row of cabbage to snack on.  I like to share with family, friends and neighbors, but not worms and bugs, so this past weekend we went out and harvested all the cabbage in the 30 foot row.

A nice head of cabbage

As can always be expected, our Jersey Cows lined up at the garden fence and looked at me with those big, brown, liquid eyes and begged.  I couldn't resist.  Fortunately, cabbage is a crop made for this situation as it contains outer leaves that God probably designed specifically for cows since they serve as a protective 'wrapper' for the cabbage head and have some 'wear & tear' on them.  The cows gladly eat any cabbage I throw their way.

"How the Cow ate the Cabbage!"

In all we harvested a 30 gallon container of smaller heads of cabbage with a few nice ones mixed in.

2014 Cabbage Harvest 

We pulled out a few heads and determined that we were going to make some sauerkraut.  We always do this and to be perfectly honest with you, as a kid, I wouldn't have touched sauerkraut with a 20 foot pole.  I like it now.  Funny how that happens...  

In order to make sauerkraut the way we do it, you need some whey.  Tricia was making kefir and separated some whey from the curds by letting it drip from a bag. We make our sauerkraut using the lactofermentation process described in Nourishing Traditions, a publication put out by the Weston A. Price Foundation.  This unpasteurized sauerkraut aids in digestion and contains beneficial bacteria and nutrients that are great for your health.

Drip... Drip... Drip

We use a kitchen chopper to chop the head of cabbage up.  You can also use the shredding blade on a food processor.  To the chopped cabbage head you'll add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.  

Salt

Then add 1/4 cup of whey:

Whey

Now here is a good chance to let of some steam.  We take the head off of a wooden mallet and use it to bruise the chopped cabbage.  Keep beating on the cabbage until you've crushed it all, mixing it with the whey and salt.  You'll see that the cabbage is all wet with the whey and cabbage juice released with the pounding.

Pounding on the Cabbage

Next we spoon it into jars, pushing it down and packing tightly until we see liquid.

The beginnings of sauerkraut

Now the waiting begins.  We put lids and rings on the jars and set them aside on the counter for 3 days.

3 days at room temperature

Once the 3 day period has passed, put the jars in the fridge.  We normally wait a few weeks before eating. When you open the jar and take a bite, you'll notice that the sauerkraut is crunchy and effervescent and tasty.  Not only is it good - but it is good for you!