When larger quantities arrive, preservation is the simplest way to maintain quality.
Here, we collect proven methods for fermentation, conservation, and food storage—using ingredients from TEIKEI harvest shares.
Fermentation has accompanied humanity for thousands of years.
People recognized early on:
When natural processes are used intentionally, durable and flavorful foods emerge.
It wasn’t until the 19th century that Louis Pasteur scientifically explained what happens:
Not "magic," but microorganisms—yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, and other single-celled organisms.
During fermentation, microorganisms work with available sugars.
Yeasts and lactic acid bacteria convert sugar.
This produces acid, carbon dioxide, or alcohol—and these substances make food durable.
A key aspect is the growth of microorganisms.
They multiply exponentially.
This means:
And so on.
After 20 doublings, a single cell becomes over a million.
After 30 doublings, it’s already over a billion.
At first, the process seems slow.
Then, activity increases significantly.
That’s why you often see:
Day 1 – hardly any change.
Day 2 – first bubbles.
Day 3 – noticeable fermentation.
This is no surprise—it’s a result of mathematics.
A thought experiment illustrates the principle.
Imagine a glass is initially empty.
A single bacterial cell begins doubling every minute.
After 60 minutes, the glass is completely full.
When was it half full?
Not after 30 minutes.
But one minute earlier—at minute 59.
Exponential growth remains unnoticeable for a long time
and only reaches its limit very late.
In a closed system, growth ends when nutrients are depleted.
This principle applies regardless of scale.
Fermentation demonstrates it clearly on a small scale.
Fermentation:
Especially with larger quantities of lemons or olives, it’s a practical way to systematically use seasonal abundance.
More recipes are being added continuously.
One level up: Recipes
Author: Felix Schröder, with assistance from AI (ChatGPT)
Creation: written by Felix Schröder › formatted in Markdown by ChatGPT › published by Felix Schröder › layout adjusted by Claude
Created: 2026-02-24 · Last updated: 2026-03-09 · Questions or feedback? support@teikei.us