No Impact Man is a pretty cool dude, he totally inspired me to do Family Footprint. He’s way more hardcore than we are about it, though. I am looking forward to his book, it’s gonna be good. I was reading over on his blog today and found this nifty info on preserving vegetables sans refrigeration:

“The simple key to successful vegetable fermentation is to make sure your vegetables are submerged in liquid. That’s it, the big secret. Usually the liquid is salty water, also known as brine, but fermentation can be done without salt, or with other liquids, such as wine or whey. Typically, when fresh vegetables are chopped or grated in preparation for fermentation—which creates greater surface area—salting pulls out the vegetable juices via osmosis, and pounding or tamping the vegetables breaks down cell walls to further release juices, so no additional water is required. However, if the vegetables have lost moisture during long storage, occasionally some water is needed; if brine hasn’t risen to submerge the weighted vegetables by the following day, add a little water. In the case of vegetables left whole (cabbage heads, cucumbers, green tomatoes, string beans, okra, zucchini, eggplant, peppers—try anything), the vegetables should be submerged in brine.”
From the website of Sandor Ellix Katz (I will be adding this link to the blogroll!)

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