Symbiosis Tour 2023

Some home front plumbing, a look at the Symbiosis Tour from where I will be posting over the next weeks

Why is it that one discovers a plumbing leak when all the capable home plumbers are indisposed? Christopher is recovering from knee surgery from a few days ago and the property’s main plumber (our son) is on a family vacation. That leaves me trying to follow Christopher’s instructions in my search of on and off valves. The good news is that it is outdoors in the line taking water to the barnyard so my inability to figure out where it is—is not leading to flooding the house. Did I mention the leak is about 100 yards down the hill? We won’t talk about how many trips that is. Christopher said he would have hired me as an assistant years ago if he’d known what fun plumbing was with me—he’s probably referring to all the profanity issuing from my mouth. (Or, that when he scrolled through the pictures, I’d taken of the muddy pipes to show him. He found only one, followed by a number of flower shots. I’d gotten sidetracked by a charming cluster of dandelion seed heads that reminding me of blooming koji. Busted. No comment.) The stressful part though is it is directly under a magnificent 100-year-old apple tree and the ground is squishy saturated. We had the tree next to it fall over into the road a number of years ago last time this happened. Most if had to be cut off but some of the horizontal branches took over the vertical grow. That tree is now living life in repose but I don’t think I could take another one falling over on my watch.

This has forced me to spend time outside, which honestly always reminds me I don’t spend enough time outside. When I was under the tree, which is just finishing its bloom, a bumble bee was buzzing in front of me. I watched it go down into the grass where it touched a dead bumble bee, which I hadn’t noticed. I immediately lost the grumpiness I had toward the pipe and was reminded of the wonders all around. (See previous reference to dandelion photos.) The teeny tiny marvels that happen at every moment that go completely unnoticed. Was this a singular event, or do bumble bees acknowledge their dead? This is another thing I will never know, and it doesn’t really matter, it brought me back to the present.

Today, I am exactly 7 days out from a 5-week tour in the UK. I am in that place of having started to pack and also realizing I better get serious on the particulars. Will I bring books? (So heavy) Samples? (Risky) I do know I am bringing some vinegar mothers to give away in the Edinburgh vinegar workshop and samples for the Bubbles and Brews class in Wells. As you can imagine traveling with ferments is a great way to add extra fun to packing and luggage, but this post isn’t about the time I almost missed a flight because of salt. I always check that through now. Or, any of the other mishaps. I can tell you there are times when I think why wasn’t I a novelist or poet? I would show up with a book to read from and that’s it. No funk in my luggage (or clothes), no leaving hotel rooms smelling like kimchi. While this trip has been in the works for a long time, over a year, I feel like it also snuck up on me. Perhaps that is exactly why I don’t feel ready, I have had too long to think, “It is a long way off.” Well, here I am, time to pack.

I will be heading to Scotland first and spending a week hiking with a friend in The Highlands. Then I will head to Edinburgh to explore for a few days with a high school friend from Rotterdam, where I went to school in 1983. “Work” begins in Edinburgh on June 3, with a workshop called Beyond Brine. I am super excited about this one because I will be teaching techniques to expand ideas about vegetable fermentation to achieve amazing flavor, superior preservation, and as part of a strategy to reduce food waste—focusing on using dehydration and pickling beds. The following day, June 4, I will be teaching vinegar making. I am being hosted by Robin at The Koji Kitchen.

Then I am off to Wells in Somerset. The official beginning of Symbiosis Tour 2023. And how about this tour poster? I love the graphics that Mara and her husband created for us—feeling like I am part of an 80s girl band now.

I am excited to visit this area because is a great cider region. I will also be meeting Jo Webster (a clinical herbalist and fermentation practitioner.) Jo was the spark that began this upcoming tour.  In part because of her determined desire to bring the magic of fermentation into the mainstream. It really has been a labor of friendship and collaboration with fabulous fermenters, now known as the Symbiosis team. We’ve arranged Symbiosis Tour 2023 in the United Kingdom. Throughout June, Mara King and myself, along with an amazing group of inspiring ferment professionals, are hosting a spectacular range of diverse ferment-related events. Each event is different in style, content and venue. Over the tour, we will be covering a fantastic array of ferment and food-related topics for different audiences.

The tour begins in historic Wells, Somerset with a 4-day fermentation “bubble”  June 8 – 11, at Jo’s home. Jo, Mara, and I teach about wild yeast vinegars, herbal vinegars, oxymels, kvasses, sodas, fruit wines, amazake and sake. We will be exploring the village and visiting a biodynamic cidery. I have to say, folks coming to this event will also be eating quite well. We will be doing the cooking which is ferment forward—from Mara’s Chinese lunch to Jo’s wood-fired sourdough pizzas.

Then it is on to Dublin. The evening of June 12, Mara and I will talk about the processes, techniques and control of fermented foods in commercial settings. The next evening, June 13, Mara and I will open the lid on applying fermentation techniques beyond the simple krauts, kimchi and sauces. Next stop, Belfast on June 15, Mara and Kirsten will join Dearbhla Reynolds at The Ulster Folk Museum to explore culture, identity and traditional arts; how fermentation helps us find a sense of place. 

The tour will culminate with two London events. The first, June 17, at Brockwell Park will be a couple of hours of exploring fermentation through the female lens of “knowledge bearers” with Mara, Kirsten and local “ladies who ferment.” And the final event, June 18 and 19, is a collaboration with UCL Department of Biochemical Engineering. Deep dive into the transformative world of domesticated molds with superpowers that amplify whatever they touch. In this two day event we will be introducing participants to koji’s role in culinary as well as in alternative food movements, ranging from gastronomic transformation to zero-waste solutions. The event will culminate in an intersectional expert panel on the microbial world. This panel discussion will be in person, but we are able to stream it. Tickets for that are here.

I hope I will meet some of you at some of these events. I will definitely be dispatching these letters from the tour. I can’t wait to share what I learn.

Be well,

Kirsten

PS As for the plumbing, I think I figured out which pipe is guilty. Where that buried pipe is leaking remains a mystery. I will begin digging in the muck this evening.

PPS Paid subscribers I will be sharing recipes for the letter J—Jicama.