Grow your own "bamboo" sticks

Ok, it's not exactly bamboo sticks. It's rather the function of them I describe. The candy smelling, white blooming bush; schersmin. I have one in my garden and every spring, a few stems are dead (while new ones sprouting). These dead ones are perfekt as growing support, straight, sturdy and long lasting. 

This is how my borlotto lingua beans looks with the stems as support. During the winter they are stored outdoors leaning against a wall and holds the next growingseasons without breaking.

 Picture of the lunch, squash, salad, leaves from celeriak, radish, onion tops and pesto of dill.

Broccoli sprouts

This is my favourite topping; Sprouts!

Perfect on top of anything. Broccoli sprouts adds a little nutty and fresh taste to your dish.

On top of your salad, sandwich or in you smoothie.

I used a plastic tray for flower pots and covered the bottom with 1 cm of pot soil. The soil is soaked and then  broccoli seeds are sprinkled in an even layer on top. A thin layer of soil to cover the seeds. Make sure the soil is always a little moist. Put the tray in a window to get nice green sprouts. After ca 4-5 days it's time for harvest.

I bought special bags for sprouting at Runåbergs fröer (swedish seed company). They sell a small variety of sprouting seeds.

Sauerkraut

Oh, Im so happy and pleased!

After my second trial I have succeded to make my own sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is a great way to eat probiotics and you don't have to deal with bloating problems like some can get when eating raw or cooked cabbage.

Don't be afraid that the taste will be grouse, it's not. It tastes like the salad that is served at Swedish pizza places. Just grind som pepper over it and there you have it. 

After Christmas the supermarkets sold the red cabbage for only 20 cents per kilo. A big cbbage head for only 50 cents was bought.

Shred the cabbage (exept the outer leaves to use later) and mix it in a bowl with a half handfull of Himalayan salt. Mash the blend with a coffe mug to get the juice out of the cabbage.

Tuck the cabbage in a big glass jar with airtight cap. Make sure you press out as much air from the cabbage as possible.  Fold the outer leaves and put on top of the shredded cabbage to get a seal. Pour water over the leaves (boil the water then let it cool first) to get a air tight cover over the leaves. If the leaves have a tendency to rise you can do as I did, put a coffemug on top before sealing (see picture below).

Let the cabbage stay at the kitchen bench for two days approximately. You should see some bubbles along the waterline. Then store the jar in a colder place ca 12-15 degrees celsius (the cellar, cupboard or something like that) for 5-7 days. Hopefully you will have a delicious cabbage sallad after this time.

First time i tried to make it I used my home grown green cabbage. I didn't use any extra water at all and I stored the jars in the cellar. It smelled like poo during the 5 day storage. When I was supposed to open a jar and taste, an awful smell struck my face and I could see mold on the surface. So be careful when you make it. Be sure you use clean jars, boiled water and make sure you have the leaves under the water.

I serve the salad every day with green salad to get a healthy stomach.