My sister and mom both visited at the height of our harvest season in August. They both helped me experiment with natural methods of food preservation, which include fermenting, sugaring, salting, drying, pickling, packing under oil and cold storage such as root cellaring/garden pits.
Humans survived our entire history using such methods. This knowledge that kept us alive for up to hundreds of thousands of years, allowing each of us to be here, has been virtually lost in the span of just a few generations with the availability of electricity and the advent of canning. Our modern energy grid supplies us with refrigeration and pre-made foods and we no longer need to think to ensure our food supply.
Beyond the obvious concern of losing our self-sufficiency through dependence on large corporations such as our energy companies, there is evidence our old methods of food preservation were actually healthier since they often do not kill plants’ natural enzymes and in some cases actually create new nutrients, vitamins, and beneficial intestinal bacteria like lactobacillus, as in the case of lacto-fermentation (eg raw sauerkraut, uncanned). These helpful bacteria and nutrients help keep digestion robust and our immune systems functioning properly - fighting cancer, autoimmune diseases and more. While modern methods like canning sterilize our food, making it “safe”, they offer less at the same time. Live bodies need live foods.
Packing beans in salt and fermenting fruit with my mom, I realized I did not have the ages-old benefit of asking an experienced person to pass on the ancient wisdom. Some pockets of insight remain, with books like “Preserving Food Without Canning or Freezing,” and while we experiment with reviving and create healthy and sustainable ways of living, we will need each other as resources, learning together.
As our carbon-culture peaks in the midst of what scientists are calling the “sixth great extinction,” there is even greater need to self-sustain. Not only are we facing the effects of global warming – we already toll more devastating natural catastrophes this year than ever before on the planet (and it’s only September) – we are undergoing a mass extinction on the planet comparable to the dinosaur extinction when most life ceased to exist. While our carbon output makes a hotter, wetter, and more dramatic climate (though drier in some places with higher evaporation rates) and challenges our agriculture systems, we face mass devastation of life on the planet - most significantly in our oceans - from overfishing, pollutants, and ph imbalances. Our planet and our human population are in grave peril. We are vulnerable, we have created this…and as ingenious and conscious human beings we also have the ability to create a sustainable world.
Here’s one step to take – try a recipe for lacto-fermented beans:
Very tightly pack beans in a glass jar. Intersperse salt and spices of choice, such as dill, garlic, celery seed, etc. Use about one tablespoon of salt per quart. The salt must be un-iodized. Sea salt works great – our regional source comes from the Great Salt Lake. Cover with spring water (if using tap water let it to sit uncovered for about a day to allow enzyme-killing chemicals like chlorine to evaporate). Tannins like black currant leaves are recommended to add crunch. I haven’t tried this but we might be able use pine needles here. Again, I am just learning…
Cover the beans with water, making sure they are all completely submerged. Cover the jar with a lid. Let it sit for a few days at room temperature. If it is bubbling, it is starting to ferment and working! Transfer it to a cool place. It should be ready in a few weeks and should last up to half a year. Use your own senses. Mold on the top can be scraped off, and I have read if a batch goes bad, it will be unquestionably evident by its horrid smell. If it looks like it will burst from gases, it may need a cooler place and/or a looser lid. Some people leave lacto-fermented foods uncovered. My own first batch of beans is fermenting well and I am about to try beets next! This recipe is not approved by the US (or any) government, which may make you more or less enticed to try it. Have fun! And share your experience with me or others!
Jenny LePage is a massage therapist and owner of Bozeman Massage Therapy LLC, an eco-friendly business downtown. She can be reached via www.bozemanmassagetherapy.com
