To: Permaculture ibiblio <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [permaculture] Spring 2009 Fermentation Workshops
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2009 18:45:05 -0500
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@wildfermentation.com <javascript:void(0);/*1233711110639*/>.
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