grow. save. share.
ferment the resistance
* Written by regular contributor, Philip Martin
There’s something grounding about working with your hands and connecting with nature when the world feels unsteady. In March, I attended Organic Growers School in Asheville, North Carolina, to learn about doing just that.
The theme was resilience - growing and preserving food as a way to weather tough times. The backdrop was Hurricane Helene, which recently devastated western North Carolina. But the vibes were positive. Presenters shared stories of neighbors coming together to help each other after the storm. It was a reminder that a crisis can bring out the best in us.
My weekend started with a half-day workshop on food preservation. While hearing about how people shared canned goods when the power was out after Helene, I couldn’t help thinking about the political storm sweeping through the country. At a time when the Trump administration is slashing federal services, canceling research projects, and sowing chaos, learning to grow, save, and share food felt like a quiet act of resistance.
At home in Washington, DC, working our plot at the community garden – and pickling and fermenting what we don’t eat fresh – won’t save the country. But it’s something within my control that soothes my mind when politics feels overwhelming, and it just might come in handy if things really go downhill. Read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and you’ll know what I mean.
There’s a lot we can do to push back against a movement that is trying to take away our rights, turn back the clock, and turn us against each other. We can vote, protest, and move our money. And at the same time, we can develop deeper connections with our food and with one another.
If you’ve never dabbled with fermentation, it’s easier than you think. At Organic Growers School, Julia Skinner, author and fermentation expert, suggests starting with sauerkraut.
I’ve enjoyed sauerkraut since I was a kid but I never knew how to make it. And I didn’t realize that homemade sauerkraut brings all kinds of pre-, pro- and post-biotic goodness. And the ingredients? Just three – cabbage, salt, and the microscopic life in the air all around us.
Want to try making sauerkraut at home? Here’s how.
Method: Julia’s. Silly poem: mine. Fermentation: for everyone.
Cut a head of cabbage
Put it in a bowl
Add a spoon of sea salt
Now you’re on a roll
Squeeze it in your hands
This part takes some time
Keep on squeezing till you see
A little pool of brine
Find a clean glass jar
Put the cabbage in
Shove it down, top with brine
Ready with the lid
Before you close the jar
Fold a cabbage leaf
Use it as a cover
To put your kraut to sleep
Screw the lid on tight
Give the jar a shake
Put it on the counter
Say “bye-bye” for the day
Each morning when you wake
Burp your jar of kraut
Unscrew the lid and you will hear
The bubbles burping out
In about a week
Give your kraut a taste
If it isn’t zingy yet
It needs a few more days
When the kraut is ready
Put it in the fridge
It’s a fermentation journey
And you’ve just crossed a bridge
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