Welcome to Counterculture's Monthly Fermentation Journal

Fermentation Journal (monthly) — Our place to record, remember and share what we are learning together on our fermentation journey.

Introduction: If you are getting this email in your inbox, then you have shared your email with us, most likely at the Lexington Farmer's Market. It will be a way for us to share with you once a month news about what is happening in our fermentation kitchen and community. If you have decided you don't have room for one more email (we understand) then please feel free to unsubscribe below as you can remain connected by visiting our new website.

Garlic Scape Paste & Kraut – Our First Seedleaf Garden Ferment !

We cannot be more excited that the first Seedleaf produce shared with us to ferment are garlic scapes. This excites us both because we see how fermentation can be used to preserve food that is often thrown on the compost pile and also how the fermentation process creates delicious food profiles packed with nutrients and probiotics.

Garlic scapes are the stems and flowers that grow up from garlic bulbs. The scapes are trimmed before flowers grow in order to send more energy back into growing the garlic bulb hidden beneath the soil. These scapes were often just thrown to compost but these days more people are finding how delicious they are fresh in a salad or turned into a garlic scape pesto to stir in with your favorite pasta.

Garlic scapes are a great source of manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and selenium. They have also been linked to numerous health benefits including lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, boosting the immune system, and preventing heart disease and various types of cancer.

The garlic scapes we received from Seedleaf are extra special because some of them have been grown by a diverse cadre of Market Gardeners who are learning to grow and sell fresh, nutritious, local produce to nourish our community.

With the first batch of garlic scapes we fermented 10 gallons of Garlic Scape Kraut with a little help from fermentista Kirsten Shockey's excellent book Fermented Vegetables. The 10th anniversary edition was just published (2024). We changed it up a little but it includes: garlic scapes, cabbage, carrots, fresh turmeric root, ground coriander, & just a little gochugaru red pepper flake. (photos coming)

With the bulk of the Garlic Scapes we fermented a Garlic Scape Paste which can last in your refrigerator for up to a year, except you will use it up very quickly as a new favorite topping for your bagel and cream cheese. Or you might use it to season any recipe calling for some garlic flavor including in soups, sauces, dressings and dips. The garlic scape is milder in flavor than fresh bulb garlic. You could also use this paste as a base to create a fermented garlic scape pesto for your next pasta dish. To ferment this scape paste we just used scapes, lemon and salt and then a little time for the lactobacillus microbes to do their work.

These limited seasonal ferments created in partnership with Seedleaf farmers and gardeners will only be available at our local Lexington Farmer's Markets. We are almost always at the Sunday Southland Drive Farmer's Market from 10am to 2pm, often at the Saturday Downtown Lexington Market from 8am to 2pm, and soon to be selling regularly at the new Tuesday/Thursday market at the Warehouse Block on National Avenue.

Counterculture and Seedleaf are partnering beginning this year to bring nourishing fermented vegetables and produce to local markets and households in Fayette County, Kentucky.  We share a commitment to work together with our community and each other to develop and nurture just, equitable and healthy interdependent connections between our land, the food we grow, our bodies and even the microbial communities living in our soil.  Counterculture will be purchasing vegetables and produce grown largely at Seedleaf’s new Headwater farmland, located at the headwaters of the Elkhorn Creek in NE Lexington, KY and then fermenting this locally grown produce using an ancient and largely forgotten food way, Lacto-Fermentation.  Our ancestors knew how important this was for producing healthy nourishing communities. Fermentation is important not only for preserving vegetables and promoting gut health, it also helps to increase the bioavailability of vitamins & nutrients in vegetables for better digestion. Happy farmers, happy fermenters and happy guts - this is a relationship where every(body) wins!

You can purchase Counter Culture Ferments at the Lexington Farmer’s Market and Good Foods Co-op in the dairy aisle. Check out www.Seedleaf.org to learn more about their work in central Kentucky of nourishing communities through growing and sharing food.