Let me introduce you to Holly Howe of MakeSauerkraut, a former grade school teacher who has mastered the ancient art of fermenting cabbage.

We would like to recommend that you eat our kraut right out of the jar or add a forkful or two on your plate at every meal. We do this ourselves and it’s hard to imagine a meal without it.

My initial taste of a Reuben sandwich was at the Lincoln Del, a legendary bakery and deli in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Farmers markets serve many different functions. They’re a place for business and trade, while at the same time they foster social gathering and community activity.

One mother told us that she includes kraut in all of her afternoon and evening meals. She said that her refrigerator is never without at least one jar of fermented cabbage.

“This week we welcome a new vendor to the market, Joel Linker, ‘The Kraut Guy’! Joel brings a variety of homemade sauerkrauts to the market on Saturday. Welcome Joel!”

I wasn’t always an advocate for fermenting cabbage. It wasn’t until I learned about the health benefits of sauerkraut that I started to look at cabbage for something other than coleslaw.

Unlike parsley, sauerkraut is experiencing a renaissance. Small batch producers of fermented food have elevated the lowly, maligned sour cabbage to new heights.

Did you know that lunch for a Chinese laborer working on the Great Wall of China consisted of shredded cabbage fermented in rice wine? That’s right. Sauerkraut was fortifying their bodies while they were fortifying their country.