Fermented Plant Juice: A Drink Only a Garden Could Love

Step 4. Cover the entire jar with the cloth and store in a dry, well-ventilated area, at room temperature (about 70°F/20°C) and out of sunlight.

Step 5. Periodically check on the jar. Within hours, a brown liquid will begin to form at the bottom. When enough liquid has formed so that all of the plant material is submerged, the weight may be removed. This may take a day or so.

Allow fermentation to proceed for several days, continuing to monitor the jar to be sure the plant material stays submerged.

After about a week, the fermentation process will be complete. The contents will have a fragrance that is unique and not off-putting.

I have left fermenting plant material sitting longer than this and still gotten a stable product, but eventually the contents in the jar will change into something else that may not be as useful. This is something to experiment with, either intentionally or by default!

Step 6. Place the funnel into a glass jar and put the sieve atop the funnel.

To strain the liquid from the plant matter, invert the fermentation container into the sieve so that the liquid drains freely into the quart (1 L) jar.

This setup provides sturdy support for a glass jar 1⁄2 gallon (2 L) in size or smaller. For a crock or other heavy container, a different setup would be appropriate.

Some imagination may be required.

Step 7. Let the mixture drain for several hours, overnight perhaps. Do not attempt to squeeze residual liquid out of the plant material.

The amount of liquid amendment produced will vary depending on how much moisture was in the plant matter at the start of the process.

If foam appears on the top of the fermentation liquid after extraction, add more sugar to eliminate it. Take note of these details and record them in your garden notebook for future reference.

Step 8. The residual material can be further extracted to produce shelf-stable, mineral-rich amendments using organic apple cider vinegar as described in the “Vinegar Extractions” recipe.

Vinegar extractions of the residual plant matter can be carried out several times.

In general, the remaining mineral constituents in the plant residues will be less than that captured in the fermented plant juice, but sometimes I have obtained higher concentrations of specific microminerals in vinegar extractions of residues.

This is an example of how to obtain higher concentrations of specific microminerals in an amendment, based on an informed choice of plant type.

Step 9. Label containers with the plant type and parts used and the dates when fermentation was started and ended.

Add to your garden notebook the weights of plant and sugar used, the type of sugar, the time of day the plant was harvested, the containers used, and other information deemed appropriate. Store in a well-ventilated, constant-temperature area out of sunlight.

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Fermented Plant Juice Uses

Using fermented plant juice amendments offers a balanced approach to plant nutrition.

I suggest using a single-plant fermentations to start with. Take good notes on what you apply and the kind of results you see.

This is an amazing product to learn about and experiment with. Fermented plant juices can form the basis of your short-term mineralization efforts throughout the growing season.

Nutrients from Fermented Plant Juice

Fermented plant juices contain nutrients in plant-available forms. Apply them directly to plant foliage and to bark if no foliage is available (think of trees in late fall through early spring) as a foliar spray, or apply as a drench to feed plant roots and soil biology.

The optimal dilution ratio will depend on the type of plant fermented and the needs of the plant being fed. Start with dilution ratios of 1:1000 or 1:500. (A homeopathic approach is something to consider.)

Diluting fermented plant juices in a 5-gallon bucket filled with about 4 gallons (16 L) of good water works well, because there’s enough space at the top to allow for vigorous stirring. One tablespoon of fermented plant juice added to 4 gallons of water is a 1:1000 ratio, 2 tablespoons a 1:500 ratio.

If a quart of FPJ is made in the kitchen and diluted 1:500, this will make 500 quarts (500 L) of amendment—that’s 125 gallons! Small amounts of this product go a very long way.

Encouraging Germination

Fermented plant juice is also valuable for encouraging germination. Seeds may be soaked prior to planting. Dilute the fermented plant juice in the same ratio as above and soak seeds for several minutes prior to planting so that the minerals needed for growth are available as soon as sprouting occurs.

The continued exposure to fermented plant juice will assure that minerals are available in forms the young seedlings can access, reducing potential sources of stress as a result of poor nutrition.