Starting a fermentation project

I have written in the past about Carl making Kombucha (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2020/11/kombucha.html and https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2022/12/some-humor-and-food-pictures.html). He had gotten a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) from a friend at Venture Out a few weeks ago and started that project up again while we were at the farm. 

He has also developed an interest in fermenting fresh vegetables. I think his interest started with sauerkraut (which he enjoys but which he feels has often lost its nutritional benefits when you purchase it as it has been canned and thus subjected to high heat). His son-in-law, Kent, shared about some of the items he ferments when we visited in April, and Carl has been watching a number of YouTube videos, so he decided to give it a go...

He bought a cabbage (4 pounds), and we got the veggie chopper from the container while on the farm. He chopped cabbage and a few carrots...

... and put salt on it to start the creation of brine. The cabbage really reduced in size with the effect of the salt creating brine...

... he put it into quart jars -- using the handle of an ice cream scoop to pack it into the jars. On the right side of the jars, you can see glass weights on the table. On the counter on the other side of the yellow bowl, you can see a few large cabbage leaves that he kept out. He placed the big leaves over the top of the shredded vegetable mix as a type of "cover" and then placed the glass weight on top of the leaf, to hold the shredded vegetables down in the brine.

About 2.5 quarts of potential sauerkraut. It will take 2-4 weeks of sitting and being left alone on the counter for the cabbage to make into sauerkraut.

He checks the jars each day for "floaters" (any pieces of cabbage or carrot that have gotten out from under the cabbage leaf on top and are floating in the brine) and scoops them out. This is probably more of a problem for us than for most fermenters since the jars are bouncing around as we travel down the road. He also is watching for mold or anything else indicating impurities have gotten in (which would necessitate dumping the whole jar).

The finished product should have live probiotics in it so will have health benefits as well as, hopefully, good taste! I guess we'll find out in 2-4 weeks how it is going!