The Fermentary

15/01/2026

I've just posted this on our private group - Ferm Fam but thought I'd put it here as well because you never know.... we have a free meet up/event coming up in Trentham. x

Saturday January 24th: Pot Luck at Acre of Roses

Tess Masters (SK60) and I are bringing our communities together for a casual pot luck on January 24th at Acre of Roses!

We've been sharing fermenting content and thought – why not get everyone face-to-face over good food?

Bring a dish to share (fermented or not – though you know there'll be plenty of ferments on the table!). No agenda, no sales, just two communities gathering around food the way humans have done forever.

Fill in the form below so we have a rough headcount and can coordinate who's bringing what.
Can't wait to meet you all in person!
Sharon & Tess Masters x

This will help us organise and understand who's coming and what to expect! We'd love everyone to bring their favourite dish or ferment - though since ferments are usually a condiment, we'll be back in touch in early January to coordinate who's bringing what. For now we just need an idea of numbers s...

05/01/2026

I've just put a couple of new recipes up online for Curtido, Pineapple Vinegar and Tepache in readiness for the Latin American Ferments (March 1st in Harcourt) where we'll make:

Curtido | Pineapple Vinegar |
Fermented Hot Sauce (Ají-Style) | Tepache | Mexican Fermented Carrots (Zanahorias en Escabeche)

Curtido is traditionally enjoyed with Pupusas. See below. It's also the part of what we are adding to our Subscription Boxes in January.

Take a look at the lightning-quick creation of pupusas, a traditional Salvadoran street food, out of Janet and Marcos Lainez’s food truck in Red Hook.

28/12/2025

Bacteria in the News

A compound produced by gut bacteria could play a vital role in managing and preventing type 2 diabetes, according to a study led by researchers from Imperial College London (ICL).

05/12/2025

https://www.sciencealert.com/kimchi-targets-key-parts-of-your-immune-system-study-reveals #

Kimchi has been enjoyed for centuries in Korea.

24/11/2025

23/10/2025

Coming our way to a workshop? The sweetest grocer on the side of the road is at - where you can also pick up our ferments(!!) 🍎 x

11/04/2025

As we slip into autumn we’re slowly changing the menu at Tumba Taco to reflect the seasons, inspired by our fermentation buddy Sharon we’re dishing up

𝐏𝐮𝐦𝐟𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐨 - 𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧, 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐟𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞

🎃 It’s absolutely delicious and available now 🎃

17/03/2025

Milk kefir people - freeze your milk kefir into blocks - add to smoothies - take out to melt and mash into avocado or any veggie mash - handy to have in the freezer.

After being a mum - an expat mum, a working single mum, a business owning mum, a working & writing a book in a blended family mum, a sole parent in a struggling business & the virus years mum - and now a mum of lovely grown ups with a lovely business and beautiful partner mum - I’m going through a new phase of life - called loving and looking after myself. :) My body included. X especially my body. And the clarity and energy to be an engaged daughter to my own mum, mum.

If you’ve been following along - it started with no alc. on Jan 5th and then moved onto swimming laps as a fundraiser - (thanks to you my donators!) and then to the strategic eating plan - and then joining a yoga class. The 60 day reset programme is by my friend Tess, who had been encouraging … almost urging me to join for over a year. I wasn’t ready.

Anyway - it turns out she is really good at what she does!! And the reset has been absolutely the best way to start my year and a new way of thinking about myself. Life changing. There is another 60 days starting tomorrow so DM me if you’re interested. It feels cheesy to talk like this but that’s how good I feel. My bestie is going to give it a go too (I think bc I flashed my leaner bod at her). Haha. Yahoo. Menopause symptoms be gone!

Back to the photo - the last 60 days I relied on my coconut milk kefir frozen blocks to pop into smoothies :) It’s handy whether you are a fan or not xx

12/03/2025

My morning milk kefir practice has been in my life for a very long time now. Sometimes I let that jar sit too long - I don’t have milk or the time - and it gets lovely and fizzy like this. love it like that ❤️… but sometimes I leave it much too long and then use it to make into labneh.. but right now - while the rhythm is good and life feels safe and absolutely lovely - it is very easy to do this in my regular 48 hour routine. I know when things are a bit awry when I leave that jar fermenting too long, ya know?

You can get grains to make your own from people via our page - word of mouth ir other forums too, of course. They are a lovely thing to share x

I put a dash on my beautiful aging pups dinner every night along with a grab of sauerkraut - she loves it! As well as that it features in my breakfast in some form- every day - whether as a drizzle in a smoothie, on a bowl of something - in eggs, to raise buckwheat pancakes - as the butter or a whey soda or spread as labneh. Tastes fabulous and so good for your gut! I am doing a talk tomorrow evening with a friend who also loves milk kefir - and relies on the coconut version in her 60 day gut reset program for menopause - link in bio. Also in bio are links to workshops - there are a couple of spots left in the milk kefir class and always the online version available any time x

12/03/2025

Hey there Ferm. Fam xx I am doing a live zoom chat tomorrow night with Tess Masters on

Gut Health and Menopause

Our gut controls so much - and imporantly in Menopause we need to recognise it controls our

Blood Sugar
Metabolism
Appetite and
HORMONES.

If you don't get my newsletters - (this where I have been spending more time this year so subscribe) - I thought I'd better poke my head in here with a heads up that you can register for a chat with us to learn about my own experience - which actually has started changing my body shape and certainly lifted my spirits.

I am doing a live zoom chat with Tess Masters (of The Blender Girl amongst other amazing things) tomorrow evening, and want you to join in if this interests you.

So I have just done Tess' program - the 60 day menopause reset, she has a few diff. programs - (admittedly I was a bit reserved and so started off a bit haphazardly)but got serious as things started to change! And so I am doing it again! I have lost loads of weight, that weird tum shape I was getting - and simultaneously gained so so much; knowledge, curiosity, optimism, energy - excitement for the future.

There is nothing in it for me - just the satisfaction that I am sharing something that seems as though it could actually be life changing for me and I love to share good things/ aka rope in my family and friends like that.

This might not be for you now but you're welcome to hop on and join us for a Question and Answer time tomorrow night -

Thursday 13/3 7:30PM (Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time)

Zoom Meeting Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86416960837?pwd=VcBTzQeEkNalnKbFWU1UKAeGTnwDgE.1

Meeting ID:

864 1696 0837

Passcode:

606060

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

24/12/2024

Tickets!