It’s fun to look inside other peoples’ refrigerators, isn’t it?  Here is the Curious Farm pickle fridge — specifically the fridge that stores the sauerkrauts and all that are ready for Market.

The Harvest Market is tomorrow, and I’m very excited to see everyone there again. I hope you’ll come down. As you can see from the photo, Curious Farm has made the switch back to glass. Next year, everything will be sold in glass again, and I’ll find other uses for the eco-friendly compostable deli containers I used for most of this year. Glass has its challenges, too, but we’ll move forward with glass in any case.

Look at those jars… so much love inside each one. Can you imagine what the Pickle Lab smells like when I’m shredding 40 – 50 pounds of sweet, green cabbage? Or the leeks from Sweetrock Farm? Or what it smells like when I’m peeling 8 heads of garlic for a batch of kimchi? It’s magic and medicine. Plucking dill seed for the cucumber pickles always makes me feel washed clean… the aroma of dill just refreshes the spirit.

It’s true that cabbages, cucumbers and other vegetables talk to me. I was going to make kraut out of the kohlrabi grown by Galin-Flory Farms, but the crunchy brassica spaceships  told me that they wanted to be a pickle instead. There was an awful day when I went to visit a produce stand with my mother and saw glorious, huge, vibrant cabbages that were screaming at me to turn them into sauerkraut. I went over to talk to them, and I tried not to cry. Sweetly, I explained that all of my fermenting vessels were full, and I couldn’t take them home. I told them I knew that other sauerkraut makers would be coming by today to scoop them up and let them ferment. I firmly believe that all cabbages grow up dreaming of becoming sauerkraut. Left to their own devices, they would ferment naturally. It is what they want to do, thank goodness.

This year, my customers surprised and encouraged me. Thank you. You know so much about the health benefits of these traditional, live-cultured foods! Some of you came to the booth every week or every other week, steadily encouraging me. You gave compliments that made me blush. You went out of your way to bring Curious Farm products to people you love.  Some of you even became addicted to kimchi this year!

When people ask about my new business, I always mention my customers. Pickle lovers are spirited, opinionated folks, and you didn’t fail me. I heard plenty of constructive criticism: “More garlic!” “Too spicy!” “More heat!” “More dill!” “I don’t know… that’s kinda weird…”

I listened to it all, and I learned so much. Thank you.

I can’t wait for next May, when the Market starts up again!  See you tomorrow…