[permaculture] Spring 2009 Fermentation Workshops

Keith Johnson keithdj at mindspring.com
Fri Feb 6 18:45:05 EST 2009


Sharing this note from Sandor Katz,


Hello friends,

It's still wintry here in Tennessee but the early harbingers of spring 
are beginning to appear. Buds are swelling and the days are getting 
noticeably longer, and occasionally gorgeous and sunny.

I've been busy creating a new teaching kitchen at a friend's farm a few 
miles from my home. With a dedicated incubator (rather than one 
improvised in the oven I share with twenty people), I've made more 
tempeh in the past couple of months than in the 15 years before. I've 
been experimenting with different beans and grains, and we've been 
eating lots of tempeh. Yummmm! I've also scaled up my koji-making and 
miso-making. And I'm trying my hand dry-curing venison in the style of 
prosciutto. All very exciting.

I'm pleased to announce that I will be hosting my first workshops in the 
new space this upcoming spring. Four-day hands-on fermentation 
production. Details below. I will continue spreading fermentation fervor 
elsewhere, but in a much more limited way (only occasionally). For 
several years now, I've traveled almost everywhere I've been invited, 
spending half my time away from home. I've loved pretty much every place 
I've had the privilege of visiting, and met so many incredible people, 
but I am thrilled at the prospect of more intensive teaching in a 
well-equipped kitchen, more time at home, more time with my lovely 
family, more time in the garden, more time in the kitchen, and I hope 
more time to do some new writing.

I've started a new feature on my website, an apprenticeship exchange, 
for professional or experienced fermenters with skills to share 
(brewers, bakers, sauerkraut-makers, meat-curers etc.) to network with 
people seeking opportunities to acquire such skills. Check it out at 
www.wildfermentation.com/forum <javascript:void(0);/*1233710589991*/>. 
Skillsharing is crucial for reviving and reinventing local food systems. 
I had the idea to create this network at Terra Madre, a gathering of 
7000 farmers, fermenters, and other food producers and advocates from 
154 countries that I attended in Italy In October. Read my blog about 
Terra Madre at 
www.huffingtonpost.com/sandor-ellix-katz/sandorkraut-reports-from_b_140596.html 
<javascript:void(0);/*1233710670127*/>.

Watch my first YouTube videos at www.youtube.com/user/sandorkraut 
<javascript:void(0);/*1233710750658*/>. More to follow.

I hope this communication finds you adapting gracefully to shifting 
realities. Be well.

Sandor

P.S. Please help me spread the word about these workshops by forwarding 
the information below to anyone who might be interested, and posting it 
on relevant listserves, bulletin boards, etc. Thanks!

*Fermentation Workshops with Sandor Ellix Katz*
At the teaching kitchen of the Foundation for Fermentation Fervor
Little Short Mountain Farm, Woodbury, TN

Join cultural revivalist Sandor Katz for a week of intensive, hands-on 
fermentation experience. Learn techniques for making sauerkraut, kimchi, 
and other vegetable ferments, mead (honey wine), koji, miso, tempeh, 
dairy and grain ferments, tonic beverages, and more. Small groups will 
work with Sandor in a new production and teaching kitchen he has created 
at a friend's farm. We will be in production, with students actively 
participating in the preparation of fairly large batches of each 
ferment. There will be ample time for explaining the processes and 
techniques, and answering questions. We have the flexibility to prepare 
other types of ferments as well, depending upon participants' interests. 
This is an opportunity for people with some fermentation experience to 
intensively immerse themselves in the practice. Sandor is an experienced 
fermentation educator who shares these skills with great enthusiasm and 
passion. Students will return home with samples of the foods we create 
together, as well as cultures. Students also have access to Sandor's 
extensive library of fermentation-related books during their stay.

Tuesday, April 7-Saturday, April 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 2-Saturday, June 6, 2009
Dates in September and November to be announced.

Weekly schedule (subject to revision):
Tuesday eve: Welcome Dinner; Introductions & Introduction to Fermentation
Wednesday: Start koji; start mead; start dairy ferments; start tonic 
beverages
Thursday: Continue incubating koji; make krauts
Friday: Make Miso & decant earlier batch; make tempeh
Saturday: Complete tempeh; bottle mead; clean; integration

The fee for the class itself, including welcome dinner Tuesday and lunch 
each day Wednesday-Saturday, on-site camping, and kitchen access for 
other meals, is $350. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Each 
class will need one cleaning coordinator as a work-study position. We 
also have farm work-study opportunities and we are open to other types 
of exchanges that you may propose.

For those flying, the nearest airport is Nashville, TN, 65 miles away. 
We can arrange to pick you up and bring you back to the airport (for a 
small fee), or you may prefer to rent a car. For those taking the bus, 
the nearest Greyhound stations, where we can pick you up, are in 
Murfreesboro, TN and Cookeville, TN. For accommodations, free camping is 
available on-site; there are motels 15 minutes away in Smithville, TN; 
and there are also several bed and breakfast inns nearby.

Please Note: Little Short Mountain Farm, where the workshop will take 
place, is inhabited by queer folks. Please do not register for this 
program unless you feel comfortable around queers and 
gender-non-conformists.

Information and registration for the workshops 
www.wildfermentation.com/events.php?id=132 
<javascript:void(0);/*1233711086076*/>. Or email 
fffworkshops at wildfermentation.com <javascript:void(0);/*1233711110639*/>.
-- 

Keith Johnson
"Be fruitful and mulch apply."
Permaculture Activist Magazine
PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47407
(812) 335-0383
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