Attack of the 50 foot Kimchi!

the past week had been a perfect storm of stress and challenge. The old me wouldn't have survived it. Thankful for what I have been given we press forward and all is well again. I had a necessary bike ride through the woods nearby where I discovered a patch of blackberries ripening, and an abundance of burdock. I made mental notes so I can find this spot again, though I don't doubt there are more like it in the area. It was nice. Reminded me of how far I have come, even a year ago I would have just said ouch when one of the canes scraped my shin, I wouldn't have thought to take a closer look to find the berries a little deeper in the patch, and I sure as heck wouldn't have thought "hey, I can use those for food!" when I noticed the burdock, if I would have even noticed at all.

but that is just the beginning. Change it seems is a pervasive thing, The cabbage's time had come, so out goes the cabbage, in goes the corn and beans. And what to do with a vegetable that I have in abundance and am the only one who currently enjoys...store it.Recalling another fond childhood memory I found an answer. Kimchi, for the uninitiated is a fermented cabbage dish (only significantly spicier), and the national dish of Korea. In fact there are as many recipes for it as there are families in Korea, and twice as many available online. I picked something simple that contained as many ingredients as I can get superlocal (backyard) and with the exception of pickling salt and ginger, all of it was grown by yours truly.

So here it is in stage one, the cabbage portion sitting overnight in brine.


the bowls on top are not there for any esoteric reasons, just weight to keep the plate and therefore the cabbage below it, submerged in the water. I of course do not have any taste testing to report as this is a dish that takes time...more than a week in fact. So this will be a to be continued while two quart jars of shredded vegetables get stinky.

...and a happy 100th post to me!