Fermenting Tomatoes with Cole Ina

This weeks abundance of produce includes a wide variety of delicious Tomatoes including Heirloom, Salad, Roma and Cherry.  You’ll also find corn, pickling cucumbers, multiple varieties of Green Beans (including Romano and French Filet) and Peppers (including Poblano, Anaheim Chili Peppers, Shishito and Jalapeno), plus Peaches, Melons, Blueberries, Swiss Chard, Gladiolas and other Flowers, Carrots, Beets, Leeks, Micro-Greens, Salad Turnips, Radishes, Garlic Braids, Basil, Dill, Parsley, Arugula, Garlic, Huckleberries, Walla Walla and Candy Onions, Garlic Scapes, Green Onions, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Kale, New Potatoes, Cabbage, Zucchini and Summer Squash, Celery, Cilantro and Shallots.

Featured Market Melodies This Week

• Music by Daniel Mills
  • Wednesday, August 23rd, 4pm – 7pm
  • Wednesday Market Location
• Music by Arvid Lundin & Deep Roots
  • Saturday, August 26th, 9am – 1:30pm
  • Saturday Market Grounds

See our full music lineup here!

Join us this Saturday, August 26th for KIDS DAY at the MARKET!

This special day will feature fun Market activities just for kids (and those who are kids at heart!)

• Be amazed by the Market Magician performing at the top of each hour.
• The Hula-Hoop Gal will WOW you with her special moves.
• Free Face Painting
• Live Animals to Pet and Love On, including a horse, piglets, and lambs.
• Special Market Treats for the kids
• And many other fun activities.

Talking Fermentation with Cultured Mama Cole Ina

Fermented foods, especially raw wild and organic fermented foods like Cultured Mama products, have tremendous health benefits. First of all is the probiotics, or beneficial bacteria, that they contain. Most of us eat mainly “dead” food, but fermented food is ALIVE, as a matter of fact it’s teeming with life! This probiotics are similar to the type you might find in capsule form in a supplement department however the total quantity of beneficial bacteria in one serving of a fermented food far exceeds that of the entire jar of capsules. This is important because the more science looks at our guts and their “microbiomes” the more we find our health and wellbeing depend upon a healthy population of gut flora (aka bacteria). 80% of your immune system lies in your gut so eating fermented foods can keep you from getting sick so easily. After fermenting, vegetables INCREASE in nutrition due to the pre-digestion the friendly bacteria perform which unlocks nutrients otherwise unavailable to our systems. It can also greatly improve your digestion, hormone regulation, reduce inflammation, calm anxiety and reduce depression, fight cancer, and so much more.

You eat many fermented foods on a daily basis, although now most are pasteurized which eliminates their most potent health benefits. Cheese, chocolate, coffee, yogurt, vinegar and hot sauces are all traditionally fermented. But the most bang for your buck comes from wild raw organic fermented vegetables. You can ferment cabbage into unlimited varieties of kraut, or beets, onions, carrots, peppers, garlic, radishes, tomatoes and nearly anything else.

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Fermented Cherry Tomatoes

Author: Cole Ina

Ingredients

• 4 cups under-ripe tomatoes, whole
• 2-6 cloves peeled garlic
• 2-4 leaves fresh basil
• 3 Tbsp sea salt
• 1 quart filtered water
• 1 outer cabbage leaf
• 1 wide mouth mason jar
• 1 jam jar

Instructions

1. Place garlic and basil at bottom of jar. Fill with tomatoes to the “shoulder” of your jar. Tuck cabbage leave over the top and edges to hold tomatoes. Dissolve salt in small portion of warm water then fill remaining quart with cold filtered water, this is the brine. Cover tomatoes with brine. Place jam jar inside, on top of tomatoes and fill halfway with brine. Cover with coffee filter or cloth napkin and sit out of first sunlight. Let ferment for 4-10 days or when you like the flavor.

Fermentation Parties

So, are you ready to go home and ferment some of your Farmer’s Market or backyard garden bounty?? Not yet? Well you’re in luck. I’m offering something special to give eager foodies a hands-on lesson they’ll never forget, Fermentation Parties! You can invite your friends and family over and I will show you all how to “put up” your harvest in the most nutritious way possible in the comfort of your home, with appetizers and beverages if you’d like. Individualized instruction, all your questions answered and coaching for the weeks afterwards as you wait for and enjoy your concoctions!

For more information contact Cole at coleina@gmail.com.