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Mother of mountain (a pickling recipe music video)

Hello pickled turnip and purslane lovers, introducing… a new Artist as Family music video to celebrate Meg on her 49th birthday, featuring Maya Green on fiddle.

Now for the recipe:

First:
Add your cleaned turnips to your jar. We pickle ours whole, but feel free to slice yours first. They will taste the same, but will ferment faster if they are sliced. Pick your purslane and wash if needed. As purslane grows along the ground, it can collect soil. Break off the leaves and smaller stems. Keeping these on will turn your ferment into mush. We only ferment the larger stems. Ideally wait until the stems turn red in colour, but dark green is fine too. Add the stems into a second jar. We pickle the turnips and stems separately as they ferment at different rates. Keep the turnip leaves for cooking, and the purslane leaves and smaller stems for eating fresh.

To each jar add:
Pepper corns, mustard seeds, fresh dill or dill seeds, bay leaves, peeled garlic cloves, slices of fresh lemon or dried lemon. For the brine: 1 tablespoon of salt (non-iodised and without caking agent in it) per 2 cups of water. We use salt from Loch Iel (the Pink Lake) and rainwater.

Fermenting:
Make sure all the solids in your jars remain under the liquid and that they stay that way for the duration of the fermenting process. You can keep the lid on your jar tightly, loosely or not at all. As the veggies begin to ferment they will release carbon dioxide and brine may spill from your jars, so it’s best to place each jar on a plate or bowl to catch the liquid. You may need to top up each jar if a lot spills out. The time your veggies take to ferment depends mainly on the temperature of your home. The hotter the environment, the faster the process. Fermenting is a relationship. Don’t be afraid to taste the brine with a spoon each day to witness the transformation, to embody it, and so the brine can be part of your development too. The brine will start out clear and will turn cloudy. After 10 days or so in a summer home, your veggies might be ready. Taste them. If they are too crunchy, let them ferment for a few days longer. Once you are happy with the flavour and crunchiness, put your jars somewhere cold, such as a fridge, cool cupboard or cellar, to slow the fermentation process right down.

Eating:
We like to put our pickles out in a bowl and just munch them, or chop them up and add them to summer salads.

22 comments

  1. Claire says:

    Many happy more sunrises Meg

  2. Bruna says:

    Happy Birthday Meg, may all your wishes come true this year.
    I hope many years of blessings
    follow you wherever you go!
    Thanks for the beautiful work you two are doing.

    1. Thanks for the sweet wishes, Bruna.

  3. Christiane Rostek says:

    What a nice video… and happy birthday Meg! πŸŒΏπŸŒžπŸŒ±πŸ’›

  4. Tim Woods says:

    Happy birthday Meg!!! Love the song, sounding even better with age Patrick.

    1. Thanks Tim, much love back to you, brother.

  5. Christiane Rostek says:

    What a nice video!I like this simple recipes!… and happy birthday to you Meg! Sending you warm hugs from cold Portugal at the moment! πŸŒΏπŸŒžπŸŒ±πŸ’›

    1. Sending you summer warmth across the seas xx

  6. Allan Adams says:

    Some good fermenting inspiration for our planned winter Turnip crop.

    Thanks and happy birthday Meg,

    Allan

  7. Christiane Rostek says:

    Sorry, that I send you 2 messages… I thought my first one didn’t reach you! 🌟

    1. No problem, Christiane. There are always glitches with digital tech.

  8. Annabella Bray says:

    Beautiful song! A lovely birthday present πŸ€—

  9. Gina Samuels says:

    Happy birthday my lovely friend. Thank you for sharing this. We will be giving it a go thank you to your inspiration. Sending love x

    1. Thanks Gina, our pleasure.

  10. "PermaGrannie" says:

    Happy Birthday, Meg!

    1. Thanks PermaGrannie! xx

  11. Kate Beveridge says:

    Happy Birthday Meg. Thanks for sharing this video. We have a glut of beans at the moment. Can I ferment them in the same way?

    1. Thanks so much Kate and yes! You can indeed ferment string beans this way following the brine ratio of 1tbs or salt to 2 cups of water plus all the yummy spices. Enjoy! I’d love to hear how you go. Meg x

  12. Micaela says:

    Happy belated birthday, Meg! Sending you love and a wonderful new journey around the sun <3

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