Super yummy, cultured squash!

My countertops are covered with the usual daily crumbs and sticky spots, things people get out and don't put away, and PILES AND PILES of impatiently waiting garden produce. This morning I woke up to an exploded green pepper. It ran out of patience. Oh, who planted so many green pepper plants this year? It took some doing to find some clear space in the kitchen to take the picture for this blog post!  I'll make some more salsa tomorrow, family, I promise!  Then we will have some clear space again.

It's quite a job keeping up with the produce coming in over the summer, and I am always feeling behind. But I've managed to keep a pretty steady flow of produce culturing. Our biggest successes this year have been green peppers (ugh, not my favorite), squash, zucchini, and tomatoes.  So, there's lots of salsa makin' goin' on!

To me, the benefits of cultured vegetables well outweigh the work and time investment in preparing and storing. They are loaded with vitamins, promote healthy gut flora, improve alkaline levels, balance thyroid, improve metabolism, and have amazing cleansing properties. They are full of vitamins B, C, and K2.  

Many healing diets recommend consuming some cultured vegetables with every meal for proper vitamin, mineral, and fat absorption.  The days that I do get my cultured veggies in me, are the days I feel superhuman! They are pretty awesome! 

One of my FAVORITE ferments is cultured squash! It is sweeter than most of the other fermented veggies, and so its savory flavor is a bit of a departure from the usual more sour ferments. I found the recipe for this squash  on Donna Schwenk's website, culturedfoodforlife.com. This is the one to make if you're easing into the flavors of cultured vegetables, since it isn't quite as pickled tasting.  

Now, I'd better go wipe the crumbs off my countertops.