It’s peak harvest season, folks! If you’ve ever watched RedLeaf Ranch on YouTube, you can probably hear him yelling it already: “ABUNDANCE!”

Because that’s exactly what many of us are experiencing in our gardens right now. The beds are bursting with produce and while it’s a blessing, it can also be a bit… overwhelming. There’s only so much we can eat fresh. Last year, this was my spicy pepper harvest and yes, even my biceps were feeling a little overwhelmed!

Now, picture yourself as a farmer hundreds of years ago. You’ve just harvested a mountain of pepper but there’s no fridge, no freezer, and winter is coming. What do you do?

You slice the peppers, mix them with some salt, and pack them tightly into a jar. Then, something begins to happen. Over the next few days or weeks, that simple mix transforms: preserving the food and turning it into something tangy, nourishing, and full of flavor that lasts well into the cold months.

That, my friends, is the ancient, funky, and fabulous method known as: lacto-fermentation. In this piece, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know. It’s going to be a long one, so get cozy and buckle up!

What Is Lacto-Fermentation, Anyway?

Long before refrigerators, pressure canners, or supermarket jars lined with preservatives, people needed ways to keep their food from spoiling, especially during and after harvest season. One of the most brilliant solutions they discovered, perhaps even by accident, was lacto-fermentation: a natural, biological process that not only preserves food, but also transforms its flavor, texture, and nutritional value.

Lacto-fermentation is a type of fermentation driven by beneficial bacteria, especially those from the Lactobacillus family. These microbes are found naturally on the surface of vegetables, in soil, and even in our own guts.

During lacto-fermentation, Lactobacillus bacteria convert the natural sugars and starches in food into lactic acid, a compound that:

• Lowers the pH of the environment (making it more acidic)
• Inhibits spoilage by preventing the growth of harmful microbes
• Creates complex, tangy flavors
• Preserves the food for weeks or even months
• Produces probiotics, which may support gut health and immune function

Despite the name, “lacto” refers to lactic acid, not lactose. So, it’s totally dairy-free unless dairy is used as the base (like in yoghurt or cheese).

What Happens Step by Step?

At its core, it’s super simple: veggies + salt + water + time = magic.

No vinegar. No heat. Just naturally occurring good bacteria that feast on your vegetables’ sugars and transform them into tangy, probiotic powerhouses.Here’s what actually happens: 

1. Salt the veggies: You start by mixing vegetables (like cabbage, carrots, or cucumbers) with salt. This draws water out of the plant cells and helps create a brine.
2. Pack into a jar: The vegetables are pressed under their own brine in a container with as little air as possible, a low-oxygen (anaerobic) environment.
3. Bad microbes are suppressed: The salty, low-oxygen brine prevents harmful bacteria and molds from growing.
4. Good microbes thrive: Lactobacillus and its friends (like Leuconostoc and Pediococcus) love salty, oxygen-poor conditions and begin to multiply.
5. Fermentation begins: These bacteria eat the sugars in your vegetables and convert them into lactic acid and other metabolites.
6. Over time: The flavor deepens. Most ferments are ready within a few days to a few weeks, depending on the temperature, salt concentration, and type of vegetable.

Why Lacto-Fermented Foods Are So Good for You

Not to get too detailed, but lacto-fermentation doesn’t just keep food from going bad, it makes it better for your gut and easier for your body to absorb.

Some Key Benefits:

• Rich in probiotics. Supports a healthy gut microbiome, which is linked to digestion, mood, and immunity.
• Boosts your immune system. About 70–80% of your immune cells are in your gut, so a healthy gut = stronger immunity.
• Improves nutrient absorption. Fermentation breaks down phytates and other “anti-nutrients” that can block mineral absorption. This helps your body absorb more iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium.
• Increases vitamin levels. Fermented foods often contain more B-vitamins, vitamin C, and vitamin K2, which are essential for energy, immunity, and bone health.
• Easier to digest. Fermentation begins breaking down complex carbs, fiber, and proteins, making foods gentler on the digestive system (especially helpful for sensitive guts).

A Global Tradition

Lacto-fermentation has been practiced for thousands of years, and is deeply woven into the culinary and cultural fabric of societies across the globe. Here are a few iconic examples you might already know:

Sauerkraut - Central & Eastern Europe

That tangy cabbage the farmer and his family were snacking on? That’s sauerkraut: a word that comes from the German sauer (sour) and kraut (cabbage).

For generations, sauerkraut was a winter essential in German, Polish, and Hungarian households. It wasn’t just food, it was survival. My partner is German, and his father still tells stories about how sauerkraut was a staple during the cold months of his childhood. For him it’s not only packed with vitamin C but also with lots of nostalgia. 

Kimchi - Korea

This national dish, made with fermented napa cabbage or radish, garlic, ginger, and gochugaru (Korean chili), is estimated to be over 4,000 years old. Kimchi is so central to Korean culture that it’s recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. When Korea launched its first astronaut into space in 2008, they made sure to send kimchi with him. 

Pickles - Global, but especially Eastern Europe & North America

There’s a whole world of pickles out there. The word pickle comes from the Dutch pekel, meaning brine. While many modern pickles are made with vinegar (aka “quick pickles”), traditional ones are wild and alive: fermented slowly with just salt, water, and time. These are known as:

• Kosher dills (Eastern European Jewish tradition)
• Sour pickles (New York deli-style)
• Ogórki kiszone (Polish)
• Malosolnie (Russian lightly fermented cukes)

Each culture adds its own twist: garlic, dill, oak leaves, horseradish, grape leaves,  to create flavor and crunch.

So, What Can YOU Make? 

You can lacto-ferment almost any fresh vegetable, root, or garden crop. Think garlic, carrots, radishes, beans, beets, cauliflower, green tomatoes, or cucumbers. The method is simple:

1. Chop or grate your veggies (or leave them whole if they’re small).
2. Add salt. Around 2% of the total weight of the vegetables (e.g. 20g salt per 1kg veggies). This draws out moisture and creates the right environment for good bacteria to thrive. Make sure to use non-iodized salt (like sea salt or pickling salt). Iodine and anti-caking agents in regular table salt can inhibit fermentation by slowing down the beneficial bacteria.
3. Pack tightly into a clean jar, pressing the vegetables down so they release their juices.
4. If the veggies don’t release enough liquid to fully submerge, top up with filtered water until everything is covered.
5. Weigh them down using a fermentation weight or a small clean jar, so the veggies stay submerged in the brine.
6. Cover loosely (with a lid or cloth) to let gases escape, and let ferment at room temperature (65-72°F or 18–22°C) for 5–14 days, depending on taste and ambient temperature. I have accidentally forgotten some of my ferments for quite a bit longer than that, and they turned out even better than I hoped! 
7. Once it smells sour and tastes good to you, move it to the fridge to slow fermentation and enjoy!

Note: You could also use fruit, but if you let fruit ferment too long or if wild yeast takes over, it can start to turn into alcohol (aka fruit wine). Which is fun, but not quite what you’re aiming for with lacto-fermentation!

How to Store Ferments Long-Term

Once your lacto-ferment tastes just right (tangy, sour, delicious), it’s time to slow down the fermentation to preserve it.

The basics:

• Refrigerate it: Move the jar to the fridge (or a cool cellar if you have one under 50°F or 10°C). Cold temperatures slow fermentation to almost a stop.
• Keep veggies submerged: Make sure everything stays under the brine, even in the fridge. This keeps mold away and preserves flavor.
• Use a clean utensil every time: Never dip in with fingers, this prevents contamination.

How long does it last?

• Most ferments will stay good for several months in the fridge, often even 6 months to a year, depending on:
• Salt level (more salt = longer preservation)
• Veggie type (firm veggies last longer)
• Storage temperature (colder = better)

Want to store it really long?

• Ferment in large batches, keep sealed jars in a cold cellar or fridge.
• You can also can fermented foods using water-bath canning, but note: this kills probiotics, so it’s good for flavor and shelf-life, but not for gut health.

! Safety Guidelines !

It’s incredibly important to follow safety guidelines when working on projects like these, especially if you’re just getting started.

Fermenting at home can be simple, safe, and deeply rewarding, as long as you stick to a few key rules. These help make sure your food stays healthy, delicious, and safe to enjoy. 

1. Always use clean utensils and jars to avoid contamination.
2. Make sure all vegetables stay fully submerged in the brine. Exposure to air can lead to mold.
3. A thin white film (called kahm yeast) is harmless, but fuzzy mold (green, black, or pink) is a sign to throw it out. The Fermentation Podcast has an entire piece dedicated to mold, definitely worth a read! Checking it out here!
4. If it smells rotten or off (not just sour), don’t eat it.
5. Keep ferments out of direct sunlight during the process.
6. Once opened or ready, store in the refrigerator.

Remember: If it looks, smells, or tastes truly off: trust your gut and don’t eat it. A good ferment should smell pleasantly sour and make you want to dig in!

It would make us super-duper happy to see what you’ve been fermenting!

If you feel like sharing your creations, asking questions, or just chatting about funky jars and bubbly brine, come say hi on or tag us on Facebook or Instagram @planterapp. We’d love to see what’s bubbling in your kitchen! :)

Do all veggie plants need full sun?

For the most part, vegetable plants grow and produce best in full sun (at least 6 hours of direct sun per day). Veggie plants need ample sun to be able to photosynthesize and grow as quickly as possible- a lack of sun may not outright kill them but it can severely stunt their growth. But there are some plants that will still produce a respectable harvest in partial shade (4-6 hours of sun per day). Gardening successfully in part shade comes down to being selective about what you choose to grow and having realistic expectations about how much you’ll be able to harvest.

If your potential garden location is in near total shade and gets only a few hours of sun each day, you may want to skip down the Alternatives to gardening in part shade section of this article. While you can certainly have fun experimenting with growing edible plants in shade (you might even discover some non-traditional edible plants that grow well in shade), you’ll likely only be able to muster up a meager harvest.

Veggie plants to grow in part shade

Lettuce and leafy greens

Lettuce and other leafy greens such as spinach, chard, and arugula are star performers in the shade. Growing them in part shade can even have some benefits, as blazing summer sun can contribute to them bolting. To get the plants off to a good start you may want to consider starting them indoors then transplanting out to the shadier parts of your garden. It can be challenging to get lettuce to form full-sized heads in part-shade, but you can certainly harvest it as cut-and-come-again lettuce.

Green onions and chives

‘Bulbing onions’ require full sun to form their large, edible bulbs, however green onions and chives are excellent shady garden plants because they are primarily harvested for their slender, pungent greens. While they will produce best in full sun, you can tuck them into shady spots and still harvest enough to make the effort worthwhile. To learn more about growing these and other allium-family crops be sure to check out Grow Amazing Alliums.

Radishes

By now you might be noticing a theme with shady-garden plant picks: they tend to be green and leafy. Radishes can add a nice burst of color to an otherwise monotone shady salad garden. Radishes can still form nice-sized roots when grown in part shade- although it might take longer than usual for the bulbs to form. Be careful not to use too much high-nitrogen fertilizer where you plant radishes, as this will stimulate them to form lush leafy tops and tiny roots. If this does happen all is not lost- radish greens are edible too!

Beets

Like radishes, beets are another root crop that can be grown in partial shade. The roots of shade-grown beets will likely be smaller than their full-sun counterparts, but you can always roast them whole and just call them ultra-gourmet baby beets. Don’t leave beets in the ground for an excessively long time hoping that massive roots will form- they might just turn woody and tough instead. Beet greens are also totally delicious in salads or sauteed, so if you do find the bulbs are too diminutive the greens will not disappoint!

Brassicas (such as broccoli, cabbage, collards, kale)

Brassicas can be grown in part-shade locations- but they must receive at minimum 4-6 hours of direct sunlight per day. If your location has dappled sun throughout the day, you may want to avoid growing brassicas there. Because brassicas, like leafy greens, are prone to bolting under stress caused by heat and drought, growing them in shade may help to delay this. Patience is key as brassicas are already slow-growing crops and they will grow even more slowly in the shade. You likely will not be able to get super-sized heads to form on your broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, but it’s at least possible to grow small, tender heads. Start brassicas indoors to give them the best possible chance to grow and reach maturity in the shade.

Peas

While peas perform best when in full sun, you can still get a harvest if they’re planted in part shade. You might even be able to trellis your climbing peas so that the plants are able to climb out of the shade to reach more sun. It is important to plant your peas with enough time for them to reach maturity before the summer heat comes. While partial shade will help keep them cooler for longer, eventually they will stop flowering and producing peas in the summer’s heat. For more info on growing peas, check out Grow Awesome Legumes.

Certain herbs (such as mint, cilantro, dill, and parsley)

While Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary and oregano prefer full sun and soil on the drier side, other herbs such as mint, cilantro, dill, and parsley don’t mind a bit of shade. The shade will help keep the soil moist and will help delay bolting. Trim (and cook with!) herbs planted in part-shade regularly to help keep the plants bushy and compact. And a special warning about mint: be sure to plant it in a container to keep it from spreading prolifically.

Alternatives to gardening in the shade

Container gardening

While your yard might be submerged in shade, perhaps there’s a sunny spot on a deck or front porch that could be a great spot to grow veggies in containers. Virtually every type of veggie can be grown in a container provided the container is large enough for the crop, and you water and fertilize regularly to keep the growing medium moist and full of nutrients. Containers can also be moved around as needed to capture the most amount of sun available as the sun’s angle changes.

Rent a community garden plot

If your house is in the middle of the deep woods your best bet for getting a sizable garden harvest could be to rent a plot at your local community garden. Community garden plots are typically very inexpensive to rent for an entire season and will let you grow sun-loving veggies much more successfully. If you garden in a community plot be sure to set reminders to water your garden when the weather’s hot and dry, as you won’t be able to check the state of your plants as easily as in a backyard garden.

Garden with neighbors and friends

If your neighbors and/or friends have unused backyard space that gets full sun exposure, try striking up a deal with them! If they let you use the space for gardening you can bestow them with tasty garden-grown produce throughout the season. If your friends happen to be gardening enthusiasts all the better- you can share the work, share knowledge, and share the reward!

Don’t let the semi-shaded parts of your garden be nothing more than wasted space. Maximize your harvests by growing some of these shade-tolerant plants and saving the full-sun spaces for sun-loving crops. Every harvest you can get from a shady space is a gardening win!

Have you ever tie-dyed with your family or friends? It’s a fun and creative activity, and many synthetic dye kits are available on the market! However, there are several good reasons to try dying with plants; put simply, natural dyes are more eco-friendly than those on the market. You reduce your ecological footprint every time you choose to reduce your packaging waste or avoid introducing chemicals to the water system; choosing homemade alternatives is a great way to do both!

Food coloring, too, has been fostering more concern lately - some colors more so than others. Specifically, red dye #40 has been banned in the UK as it’s derived from petroleum. Food colorings are also theorized due to testing to promote hyperactivity in children, though that’s still being tested. Regardless, as before, natural dyes are far safer to consume and use than these petroleum-based dyes, and you can make them yourself at home!

If you’d like to read more about artificial food dyes, here is a resource from the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

https://www.cspinet.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/resource/food-dyes-rainbow-of-risks.pdf

How Do I Get Started?

Below are many plants you can use for specific colors! For best results, try mixing a few or testing out small batches to see what gets the color you’re looking for! Also, individual variations in plants (like avocados) will cause variations in the dye color; no two marigolds will create the same color dye, so it’s best to do big batches if you think you’re going to need the dye for more than one thing!

Red/Pink: Cherries, roses, beets, avocado pits/skins, red onion, strawberries, raspberries

Yellow/Orange: Onion skins, carrots, turmeric, saffron, celery leaves, paprika, marigold, sunflower petals

Blue/Purple: Black beans, blueberries, elderberries, red cabbage + baking soda, basil, Huckleberry, blackberry, sweet potato

Green: Grass, spinach, artichoke, mint, lilacs, matcha

Brown: coffee, tea, cocoa

Black: Activated charcoal (not exactly a garden product, but still a good natural dye!)

Some Things to Keep In Mind:

When making dye at home, keep in mind that natural coloring will create lighter, pastel shades as opposed to artificial vibrant colors. For a more vibrant color, make the base as concentrated as possible. Also, natural food colorings of course come from real food ingredients; the dye may have a small bit of that flavor left, depending on the ingredients used. Organic produce will be better for your dyeing needs as well, as added chemicals could mess with the mixture you create.

Some dye’s ingredients will interact with temperatures or ingredients to make different colors. For example, avocado scraps will make pink dye when steeped at low temperatures but brown if boiled. Red cabbage will make blue dyes if baking soda is added. If you do research into what ingredients you have, you could make a wide variety of dyes!

If you’re looking to dye eggs for easter, you’ll want to go with the clothing dye instructions below!

How to Make Natural Clothing Dye:

Some dyes will need specific different temperatures or ingredients to affect the color (for example, avocado scraps will make pink dye when steeped at low temperatures but brown if boiled). Here are the basic instructions:

When using plant products for dying, it’s recommended that you use an equal weight of scraps as the weight of what you’re planning to dye. To dye a shirt, you’ll need a lot more light ingredients like onion skins, for example, than beets. Put your ingredients (chopped up) into a saucepan or pot with enough water to cover it all, and bring it to a boil before leaving it to simmer until you get the color you like. 40 minutes is a good length of time for this, but for vibrant and strong colors you should let it simmer for a few hours. Turn off the heat and leave your dye to cool overnight if you can, and when you’re finished waiting you can throw the scraps into compost and you’ve got your natural dye, ready to go!

To dye your fabrics, start by washing them; wet clothing will take the dye more easily, and be easier to twist for tie-dye. Tie the clothes if you’d like, before soaking them in your vat of dye and leaving it overnight for best results. Wash out the colored clothes with cold water, untie them, and hang them out to dry.

Make sure to wash dyed fabrics with cold water to keep them looking vibrant.If you’re dissatisfied with the dying results, warm washes with strong detergent should get the fabric back to fresh and new!

How to Make Natural Food Dye:

There are two basic ways to make food dyes; from powdered ingredients, or by making a concentrated liquid.

You can make powdered ingredients out of your fruits or vegetables by freeze-dying them and then putting them in a food processor. These powders are often easier to use as they dissolve without much fuss and are more concentrated. Making powder at home might leave you with clumpy results depending on the ingredients, but they can be dissolved in a little bit of liquid to smooth them out.

The liquid method can be done by juicing your produce, pureeing and straining, or steeping some in water, depending on the ingredient choice. You will have to reduce the liquid by cooking it down to make as concentrated a color as possible, typically down to a fraction of a cup.

Once the colorings are made, you can use them in whatever you please! Add slowly and in small amounts to ensure the desired color and vibrance, just like any other food dyes. Icings and frostings are a good use for these, as well as baked goods, though the heat may affect the color. You can also use them as edible paints!

Your newly made food coloring can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.

Happy coloring, gardeners!

Even though summer can get hectic, don’t forget to take a step back from the to-do list to plan your fall garden. While the tomatoes are ripening and the peppers are plumping, it’s time to be thinking about which seeds to sow and seedlings to transplant for fall harvests.

Why plant a fall garden?

As your first frost date approaches, you can still plant cool season crops as they can tolerate a frost or even a freeze. In some ways, fall crops can be easier to grow than spring crops as the ground is readily workable and temperatures drop into the ranges that cool-season crops prefer rather than getting hotter. Cool-season crops can sometimes struggle to germinate in high heat though, so if you are planting from seed you may want to consider starting indoors or setting up some shade cloth. Above all, make sure the soil is kept consistently moist until the plants start to take off.

Another advantage of planting cool season crops in fall is that some of them, such as carrots, parsnips, beets, cabbage, and kale, will actually sweeten up after enduring a frost!

What plants can I grow in fall?

Most cool season crops will grow well in fall, so long as they are started with enough time to reach maturity. These include:

Brassicas: brassicas such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale do very well growing into fall as they are generally quite frost-tolerant, and their flavor improves with the frost. These crops do take some time to reach maturity though, roughly 60-80 days or more from seeding to harvest depending on the plant and variety, so be sure to start seeds in time or buy transplants from a garden center.

Lettuces and leafy greens: lettuces and leafy greens such as spinach, chard, and arugula are rock stars in a fall garden. They grow quickly and can be harvested repeatedly until the cold weather finally knocks them out. In most cases the leafy greens are not as frost resistant as brassicas, so you may want to consider protecting them with a hoop house or some floating row cover, to help extend the harvests once chilly weather sets in.

Root vegetables: root vegetables are great candidates for a fall garden. Radishes are especially quick to mature and can be planted well into fall. Others such as parsnips, carrots, and beets take longer, so again be sure they have enough time left in the season to mature. Root crops often don’t transplant well, so buying seedlings from the garden center may not be a viable option.

Garlic and shallots: unlike the other fall crops that are planted in summer and grow into fall, garlic and shallots are planted in late fall for harvesting next season. While they don’t need to go in the ground now, you will still want to be thinking about where to plant them when the time comes and ordering sets soon to be sure they will arrive in time for planting.

When should I plant my fall garden?

To sort out when to get your seeds started and your transplants planted out for your fall garden, look for Cool season plants in Planter:

Then, look at the number of days needed for Germination and the number of days from Sprout to Harvest for that plant. Work backwards from your first frost date to determine when you need to plant to ensure there is still enough time for the plant to mature and produce a harvest. While frost-tolerant plants can keep growing past your first frost date, it is good to get your fall crops planted with a bit of extra time in case of slower growth or extreme weather conditions.

There is a lot to tend to in the garden in the midst of summer, but it’s also time to plan ahead and start planting for fall. Planter makes it easy to figure out which crops can be planted for a fall harvest, so you can spend more time getting out in the garden!