I've been too busy canning to write about it, but I need to take a break to tell you about my best experiment so far this season. These ginger carrots are strongly flavored and raw by themselves, but blend magnificently with grilled meats and stir fry. I like them so much that I am planning to make more this weekend while carrots are still in season.

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The following ingredient list is from Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

Ginger carrots

For every quart:
4 cups grated carrots, tightly packed
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon sea salt
4 tablespoons whey (if not available, use an additional 1 tablespoon salt)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pound with a fist or wooden pounder to release juices. Pack into a wide-mouth quart size jar and press down until juices cover the carrots. Fallon's directions say to cover tightly and leave them at room temperature for three days, but my carrots bubbled fiercely, and I had to let off the pressure several times per day to prevent the jars from exploding. I will leave more than a 1-inch space between the carrots and lid next time.

Lactobacillus, bacteria that produces the natural preservative lactic acid, are present on the surface of all living things. It is especially prevalent in whey, which can be obtained from yogurt with live cultures. The salt is added to inhibit unwanted organisms just until enough lactic acid has formed to preserve the vegetables. This is why less salt can be used if the fermentation process is jump-started with whey.