Make SUPER-EASY Fermented Pickles! And reclaim a bit of your food. (VIDEO)

Before there were artificial preservatives, there was canning.

But before there was canning, there was FERMENTATION.

(Hey there, little sourdough starter)

This amazingly-designed process is so simple that anyone can do it with what they have on hand, just like people did for thousands of years. But the fear that surrounds the idea of submerging veggies in water or brine and leaving them to bubble and foam has stopped many people from even attempting to tap the riches of this ancient process.

I know that fear. Only a few years ago, before Andrew and I got serious about experimenting with fermenting, the very idea made me believe that botulism would be knocking at my door, waiting to knock my family dead. Leaving food to do its thing at room temperature felt truly transgressive in this age of refrigerators, sterilization, and FDA rules. Where were the comforts of my colorful plastic packages and the 1-800 numbers with their quality assurances??

But all that has changed in my mind. Research and experience has now shown me that this IS the way that food used to be preserved for thousands of years, and that, by comparison, the age of artificial preservatives, canning, and "sterile" food is truly in its unsteady infancy. I now see that by forfeiting our ability to process our own food, we have given up something truly rich and healthful. For years, without even knowing it, I was exchanging the potential of enjoying gut-loving probiotics for dead supermarket food loaded with unpronounceables. For many of us, this is the culinary tradition we have inherited.

(What the crap is half this stuff??)

But that can all change. Just getting started with fermenting, even in something as small as a pickle, can start a paradigm-shift that can lead you down the road of food responsibility. Is this too grand a statement to make for the sake of a briny cucumber? I don't think so. Along this road, our homestead has picked up kombucha, sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, sourdough, and the accompanying confidence to wrest our food out of the hands of industrial nutrition. I challenge you to give it a try...and just see if the little confidence-boost that your first ferment gives you is all that's needed to get you started on this journey.

Thanks for reading and watching! As always, feel free to ask us any questions or to share your own stories of food experimentation.

AN AWESOME FERMENTING BOOK TO CHECK OUT --> http://amzn.to/2tVj5Lb

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