My daughter-in-law in Virginia had this recipe in one of her cookbooks.  Since I had beets, dill, garlic and cabbage in the garden, plus lots of organic carrots I decided to make it.  The recipe called for 3 pounds of cabbage and I only had about 1 and a half, so instead of adding the juice of one lemon I ended up using three.

Added a few beet greens and decided to use dried dill since it called for that.  Next time I will try the fresh.

I have a variety of beets, which have to be peeled.

After saving two outer cabbage leaves, the rest is chopped in a food processor.  That is added to a bowl, then the carrots, garlic (4-6 peeled) and beets are chopped in the processor and mixed with the cabbage.  (Don’t use metal.) Last the lemon, a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of dried dill are stirred in.  Wait at least 10 minutes and mix again.

Everything but the cabbage leaves are spooned into a jar, pressing down to keep the mixture below the juices.  The cabbage leaves are folded at the top and pressed under the juice.

The mixture should be at least 1 inch from the top, so you may need more than one jar.  Mine was a big one.  Put the jar out of direct sunlight in a pan to catch any overflow and wait 2 to 3 days for the bubbles to form.  That is always a joy to see!  Release and retighten the lids each day to release the gas.  If you don’t see bubbles, but notice vertical separations forming in the jar like the picture on the right, that’s the action of the bubbles.  Then you can let it ferment for 5 to 10 days.  They can be eaten then, but even better to keep the jar in the refrigerator door for a few weeks.

I try to eat a little bowl every day or so.  My friend took some home to use as hot dog relish.  Once in the fridge, I put some plastic wrap between the jar and lid to keep it airtight.  If you have the rubber ring with the clamp jar, even better.