Fermented Beets

So for everyone who has been anxiously awaiting a post all summer (or I mean my two friends who read this blog right now) I'm sorry if you're disappointed that I am posting about....... beets.  But I am just really excited about them!!   When I get excited about new things I dive in head first and have a tendency to get really into it, which may mean it sort of consumes all my thoughts and I devour books and now blogs all about it. Case in point for this summer: Lactofermentation and canning (which is for another post). 
I have dabbled in vegetable fermentation for the past couple of years with varying success, making my own sauerkraut.  It has in the past turned out.....okay, and I may have thrown a batch or two out.  Now, in 2013 all of a sudden it seems to be everywhere I look and after checking out Sandor Katz' (the fermentation guru) famous books Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation I am sooooo hooked.  With just a little bit more understanding of the process I am on a roll and am hoping to make tons of sauerkraut with farmer's market cabbage, kimchi and fermented carrots.... this weekend!  I am also reading Cooked by Michael Pollan (love) and am right smack in the middle of his chapter about his own foray into fermentation, and in his book he includes none other than..... Sandor Katz!  I love Michael Pollan, maybe too much. 
Anyway, one step at a time.  I'm not sure Greg really wants to hear me swoon anymore about the benefits of live culture food and our microbiome and intestinal health as solving all the world's problems.  I know my Dad especially could care less but that doesn't stop me from telling him about it, because he's nice and he'll listen!   (Although actually, Greg was the one who made our first real successful sauerkraut last summer that we are just finishing up in the fridge right now after HE heard Sandor Katz on Morning Edition!)  So.... after all this reading and all this talk I have made (with Greg's help)

Fermented beets!  

Nothing like a beautiful beet!

My basic process came from the above books and was this:
1. Peel and then grate our farm share beets in the food processor using the grate setting
2. Mix them in a big bowl with sea salt (I used the ratio of 5 lbs of beets to 3 tbsp salt - I did not have five full lbs of beets but did the math accordingly... or maybe Greg did) and caraway seeds
3. Pack and push and pound into a quart size mason jar, following Mr. Katz's instructions to be certain the juices (brine) covers all the beets
4. Set a weight on top of a lid (I used a smaller jar lid and put a bag of water on top of that as the weight) and put on a shelf in the basement and forget about it/taste periodically.

Yum!  They tasted good!

The beets needed more brine, so I added some salt water - a ratio of 1 tbsp sea salt to 1 cup water

Not a great photo, but basically a plastic bag filled with water on top of a smaller size ball jar lid to act as a weight to keep the beets submerged in the brine. 

After Greg and I both tasted, we were pleased with their pleasant, pickled taste!  But we decided they could ferment some more, so back to the basement for the lactobacilli to do some more work.  We'll put them in the fridge to essentially stop the fermentation, once we like the taste.  Up next... kimchi!