R is for Reflect, Refresh and Revised

A new name for Ferment Nerds and a new book 😀

Seasons ebb and flow and this time of year it feels in our face more than ever as we spin toward the solstice – winter or summer depending on where you live on this circling planet. Every time I look at the date on the calendar or think, wait, what is it Friday again I wonder how it is that we are in the last few weeks of 2023.

The days here, in a narrow valley, on the 42^nd parallel are short. The sun sets behind the hill several hours before sunset and my body starts asking is it bedtime? My inclination to hibernate is strong, which means this time of year my creative energy is tempered—less action-oriented. I spend a lot of time reading and taking in good words. More hours of darkness also leaves more time for reflection.

We are nearing the one-year point of my rebooting Christopher’s Substack. (For those of you who are new here, Ferment Nerds was created by my husband Christopher in 2020. As his world shifted Ferment Nerds became my project.) From the beginning, I didn’t mind (as I certainly can get quite nerdy about fermentation) but also didn’t fully relate to the name of this missive. I decided to move forward until I had a better sense of who I was in this space.

Much of my motivation around writing about and teaching fermentation is based on the hope that happy microbes help bring about happy humans—a simplistic way of thinking about how a jar of vegetables fermenting on one's counter can offer a deeper connection and a grounding to the nature in us. Or, how that same jar nourishes us in so many more ways than when the vegetables were fresh and unfermented. Or, how the act of preserving something in the peak of flavor for a later time places us on the continuum of seasons. So, it is with these and other thoughts in mind I am changing the name of this letter to Fermenting Change – At home with Kirsten K. Shockey.

Don’t worry you don’t have to do anything. You will see the changes in the name over the next week.

I am at my core a practical person, and fermentation is no different. What you ferment should feel safe, easy, and most of all delicious. Making and/or eating fermented foods should be stress-free and intuitive. I have believed that since I started this journey which is how we have approached our books, our classes, and this newslette…which leads to another announcement.

2024 is the tenth anniversary of the publication of our first book Fermented Vegetables. (How can that be?) To celebrate the anniversary, we (our publisher and Christopher and I) are releasing an expanded and revised 10^th Anniversary 2^nd edition.

The first edition has taken me on a journey that I never imagined. We just wanted to make vegetable fermentation accessible, not scary, and fun. We’d been teaching locally, and this book was what we thought was missing at the time.

It still blows my mind that it is translated into German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, and Russian (not pictured). I am humbled at how it has touched lives in places all across the world. Readers and friends have sent me pictures of this little book in the wild in surprising places—like the Museum Kimchikan in Seoul.

Why a new edition? For one I have learned so much since the first was published and I wanted to share more techniques that are ancient, safe, simple and delicious. Fermentation is such an incredible way to reduce food waste and as such this new edition offers more tips and suggestions. Also, the science of fermentation and gut health has advanced considerably since the first publication, it was nice to refine that a little bit more, without getting too nerdy.

In the next months, I will tell you more, share some new recipes, but I wanted to announce to you here first.  

Fermented Vegetables (strikes again) 2^nd Edition is available for pre-order now.  Head to your local bookstore and order it—you will support them and us. If you want a signed copy. You can pre-order (in the US only) directly from us. We also have a small “shop” at Bookshop.org where you can preorder this book if you don’t have a local bookstore.

All of this wouldn’t be possible without the thousands of you who are here and interested in my work. I am full of gratitude for your support and enthusiasm for fermentation. I wish you a beautiful solstice in the coming days.

Thank you, Kirsten