On My Feet

Keith holds two of nine jars of sauerkraut I just made

They have beer bottles in the top for pressing them.

click images to view larger

I am on my feet for hours and hours.  I am making sauerkraut again, cutting, chopping grinding red and green cabbage, carrots, parsnips, yellow and green squash, broccoli, cauliflower, blueberries, lemons.  After I grind them, I beat them with as glass carafe until I am tired, and then I add salt, stuff them into nine jars, add weights and press them.

Then, there is a huge mess to clean up.  Then I walk to the store for mushrooms and other things I can’t grow.  After that, I stand at the counter cutting vegetables for dinner, and then I take a walk while I am waiting for my husband to return from visiting his mother at assisted living.

I am tired, but this, and the above, is not a complaint.

I was sick for so long, for over a year (and for many years before that, to varying degrees).  For a year, I literally could not do anything.  Sometimes, I thought I would never recover.  And I am not recovered, not entirely.  But it is a miracle that I can stand for hours and hours and do all that work.  This is not a complaint; it is a good thing, a thing to celebrate.

I think perhaps the raw sauerkraut helps.  I don’t know this.  But I seem to be feeling gradually better.

Here is a note for anyone contemplating making sauerkraut.  My second to the last batch before this got moldy.  It was gross.  I kept scooping the mold off, because supposedly, the stuff in the juice is safe.  But some of the mold flavor carried over and I didn't like it.  So I read up on how to prevent mold.  This what I read:  mix 1 teaspoon of salt in a cup of water and add this just to the top of each jar.  That’s a pretty strong salt solution, and I was afraid it would make the sauerkraut taste bad, but instead, it worked great.  My whole last batch was the best batch I've made yet.  Hope the one I made today is as good when it ferments.

He doesn't like the homemade sauerkraut from the garden. 
He prefers store-bought cooked sauerkraut.

  We are eating dinner as I write this. This is happening right now.  I took the pictures with the computer, so they aren't as good as camera photos.

The finished sauerkraut (from the last batch)
is a more uniform red color.