Ingredients:
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9 cups cabbage, thinly shredded (about 1 medium-sized cabbage)
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3 cups fresh Nettles tops, leaves and tender stems, coarsely chopped
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3/4 cup Alliums- Chives (Allium schoenoprasum), Field/Crow Garlic (Allium vineale), Green Garlic or Scallions, chopped
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1/2- 1 cup Spring Greens- Garlic Mustard leaves and stems , Dandelion leaves, Chickweed, Violet leaves, Yellow Dock leaves, Plantain (Plantago spp) leaves, coarsely chopped
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4 tsp sea salt (I love Redmond’s brand but any will do)
Directions:
1. Chop your cabbage and pile it into a big bowl with the Nettles and Alliums, sprinkle in the salt and begin massaging it all with your hands. The cabbage will begin to breakdown, releasing its juices, which becomes the brine. You can wear gloves for this part if you’re worried about the sting of Nettles (which will be rendered harmless by the fermentation process).
2. Next choose your vessel- a fermentation crock or wide mouth mason jar will work. Pack the ‘kraut into your vessel and press in with your hands or use a sauerkraut stamper (also called a pounder or tamper) until the brine covers the ‘kraut, adding some you make yourself, if-needed (see recipe notes at the end)
3. Use a heavy lid, a fermentation weight, or small plate with a sterilized rock on it for the crock or mason jar to keep the brine levels over the veggies. Or another good trick for this- if you don’t have a small lid- is to fill a ziplock bag with water or rocks and use that as a weight to keep ‘kraut below the brine level.
4. Now you sit back and let it ferment! Fermentation time will vary based on the weather but check on it by tasting it daily to track its progression. It’s ready when it tastes sour, crunchy, and still salty, but not nearly as salty as it tasted when it first started fermenting.
5. Put it into a jar with a lid and keep in the fridge or your root cellar, if you’re lucky enough to have one! Enjoy as a condiment, with sandwiches, with breakfast, with a heavy meal, as a base for salad dressing, on a picnic, or even as a simple snack. A good medicinal dose is 2 tbsp/day.
Important numbers if you’re free styling this recipe (in which case you’ll want a kitchen scale):
For every 5 lbs of veggies, use 3 tbsp salt
For every 1 lb of veggies, use .6 tbsp salt (~2 tsp)
For every ½ lb of veggies, use 1 tsp salt
If you need to make brine, use 1.5 tbsp salt: 4 cups water
Enjoy!