Lora-Leah Andersen

So I have been making vinegar with sprouted potatoes from last year. Ive been doing it in 1 gallon jars on my counter. 4 cups potatoes, 1 cup sugar,  the rest water, cover with a cloth, stir daily until it stops bubbling, then stir in another cup of sugar, stir and repeat until it stops bubbling again. With that, I strain it out and leave it on the counter another two weeks. I am at that stage for two jars right now. They smell like vinegar 😋.  I plan to rack it before use.
The next batch I did the same, but I replaced one cup water with a raisin ferment starter liquid to ensure a good start and more predictable outcome. This batch seems thicker after staining. Do I just leave it sit on the counter like the others and it will settle? Also what is the name of the strips to be used for testing acidity?

I am also curious if it would be possible for me to use a 5 gallon pail to make the next batch? I want to use up those potatoes before they go bad.

I have many Siberian pea bushes on my property. My kids and I do enjoy eating them fresh when we are out and about. But to honest, I can't see it being realistic to pod all thos tiny things like that for long. Would be nice to see some dry even.
I have heard that they pop open on their own when dry on the bush. Is this true, and is there a way to use this somehow?

Thank you so much for mentioning this man. I will check him out!

Got them all in today. So happy, they filled all the empty corners!
Now to move over my nitrogen fixing trees. But first the annual vegetable garden needs me to finish planting it.

Thank you for your inputs.

In my food forest I basically have fruit tree guilds, 4 feet wide in 150 foot rows. Main tree in center, with a perennial at each 4 corners 2 feet away from the main tree. The south, west corner is to help block elements and sun scald in the Canadian winters from the snow. After each guild is a 15 foot span with a couple raspberry bushes. The goal is to allow it all to spread in the 4 foot wide rows as it all wishes.
So I got plants on sale. I have gooseberry,  aronia, and red and black currants. Looks like they all will grow to 5.5 to 6 feet tall and wide.
What would you do? Still put them 2 feet away from the center tree, or do I change the plan and place them 3 feet or even more away?

Dehydrating the leftover pickles is a great idea. Thanks.
Even if Noone likes it as a snack I would suppose pondering them to use as a salad dressing flavor would be possible.

Person preference will play a big role.
In our family there are many things that do not get blanched before freezing because we just take the bag out of the freezer and let them thaw at room temperature to eat raw. Things like carrots,  snap beans and peas out of the pods.
For greens, none of us like them frozen. They are stripped off stems, dehydrated and then crushed into jars for later use. We also dehydrate the chopped stems. Beets, and zucchini and whole pea pods are dehydrated with no blanching and put into jars.

If anyone has tips on how to use all kinds of pickled veggies up, please share. Turns out no one here likes anything other than pickled carrots.
Also tips on storing carrots in the cellar welcome. I just can't figure it out!

Thank you Eric,  this is so very interesting.  I usually do so much research before I buy something new. I was a rebel this time.

I am ok with reloading the substrate often as long as it is something I have accesse to easily. Otherwise I may as well go and buy mushrooms right?