Four Months Later than Normal

It's funny to mention the extreme (for us) cold weather right now when we are experiencing highs in the upper 90's, but this winter we had a cold snap that obliterated the beets, spinach and carrot seedlings that we had coming up.  They were at a tender stage and they just couldn't make it.  I replanted a couple of rows of Danvers Carrots in the early spring to replace those we lost.  Normally we're harvesting carrots in mid-February.  We're four months later than normal, but better late than never.

What I've found is that carrots grown in hotter conditions aren't quite as healthy as the early spring crop normally is.  The ones we harvest seem to be smaller and shorter.  When all was said and done, we had a nice big basket of carrots.

In keeping to the Back to Eden Gardening Method, as soon as we harvested the carrots, we quickly topped the soil with four inches of wood chips.  If you don't know about this method, you can check out more information on it here: Back To Eden Gardening Method Documentary

The wood chips mimic what happens in the forest, keeping the soil covered, reducing compaction, preserving soil moisture, discouraging weed growth, and putting nutrients back in the soil.

We ate lots of the carrots, but we also made a couple quarts of fermented ginger carrots.  It's a dish similar in some ways to Sauer Kraut.  We're about finished with our last jar of Sauer kraut.  We shredded the carrots in a food processor and added minced ginger to the bowl, added salt and whey and stirred.

This is an easy dish to throw together.  You can see the fresh carrots that get shredded.

The ingredients, once mixed are packed tightly into jars.  We like to "beat the carrots up" by pounding on them to release the juices.

Then we put caps on the jars and leave them at room temperature for 3 days.  After three days, we put the jars in the fridge.

We generally let the fermented carrots age in the fridge for a few months.  We find that the taste gets better with age.  Fermented Ginger Carrots has a tangy, cool, refreshing taste to it that is perfect for a side dish on a hot day.