The kitchen is tidy. The chickpeas are soaking, making cracking sounds. There will be miso made tomorrow.

The apples are dehydrated. I leave them out until morning to cool so I can feel if they have any moisture left in them. But I reckon they are done. There are enough apples left for another batch, altho they look beautiful in their golden greenness in the large Moroccan bowl.

I picked some more bay leaves, about 50, rinsed them and they will dry overnight before being added to the pile on the large tray for complete dehydration. I don't put them in the dehydrator, they dry on their own pretty quickly. Ditto for some curry leaves that are on another tray.

There is gentle jazz in the background and the crack crack crack of the chickpeas.

The apple vinegar, fermenting on the bench, is bubbling well. I made a beet-celery fermented salad mix, kraut style, which will ferment for 4 or 5 days at a guess.

An Indian cookbook lies open on the lounge.

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A 2-litre jar of #purslane, fermented with ginger, garlic and onion for 5 days, reduces to this - a much smaller jar of purslane and left-over brine for brine shots and soups etc.

I couldn't get the purslane to release enough brine to do a dry ferment, but it did release water over the 5 days. I suspected it would do this and adjusted salt levels to compensate.

It reduces as the stems soften a little and the purslane tangles around each other.

The purslane is still beautifully crunchy (I used grape vine leaves as a follower which may have helped).

Note for next time: Add some nori or kombu to the ferment.

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I've just jarred a large lot of capsicums that have been fermenting. It's a mix of red and green capsicums so very colourful. They'll be lovely for quick stir fries.

The shiso leaves are still fermenting - another couple of days should do it in this weather. They are so aromatic, and every now and again there is a wave of their perfume through the kitchen/dining room. It must be as some CO2 escapes.

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I put up some semolina flour to ferment overnight and it seems to have done well (flour+water+yoghurt/any starter and cover jar with a woven cloth or similar). I'll make upma from it later today.

The Garlic Eggplant Wedding Pickle is fermenting vigorously - to burp the large jar I cover with a towel and open slowly to prevent liquid spurting everywhere. I have to burp 3 times per day but it is the first morning one that is the most likely to expel some liquid.

For some reason, the smaller jar, while vigorous, is not as likely to bubble over. Perhaps some gas is escaping anyway.

Next time I'll make these with a fermentation lock.

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Lovely radishes straight from the garden this morning. I love them just sliced with salt. Fresh radish leaves are also delicious so I made toasted sandwiches with onion-miso spread, radish leaves, chopped herbs from the garden, and tomato slices. Delicious!

Also this morning, 2 large jars of eggplants are now nicely fermenting with onion, LOTS of garlic, garden herbs. It's a 2-3 week ferment. The recipe is from Kirsten Shockey (she got it from some friends) called Garlic Eggplant Wedding Pickles. They call it that as they often make a batch when they are invited to weddings and gift the lucky couple a basket of different ferments in little mason jars with labels they have printed.

I see lots of raw fermented babaganoush and baigan bharta in my future.

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