A total of 25,000 people — more than twice the population of Reedsburg — are expected to attend Fermentation Fest this year. The annual celebration of everything fermented kicks off Sept. 30 with a beer and appetizer tour through historic downtown Reedsburg.
Another main attraction of the 10-day festival is the Farm/Art DTour. The self-guided, 50-mile tour through rural Sauk County is peppered with temporary art installations, live performances and pop-up food markets.
But Fermentation Fest is more than a local food and art festival. It’s an annual boot camp for DIYers. More than 40 workshops will teach pickling, home cheesemaking, bread baking and a host of other fermented favorites.
Madison’s NessAlla Kombucha is offering beginning and advanced kombucha brewing classes. The effervescent, fermented tea (served cold) is made with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast.
“Generally, when food is fermented it creates a slew of different kinds of bacteria, vitamins and probiotics that help your body process and digest food,” says Vanessa Tortolano, who owns NessAlla with longtime friend Alla Shapiro.
“People are interested in kombucha because they are seeking out a healthy lifestyle,” says Shapiro. “The experience of brewing your own fits right into that.”
Furthermore, “the science of how gut health is linked to emotional and mental health has really taken off lately,” Tortolano says.
If vegetable ferments pique your interest, dietitian Laura Poe is teaching Vegetable: Krauts, Pickles, Condiments and More. Faith Anacker — aka Dr. Fizz, the owner of Fizzeology Foods in Viroqua — leads a hands-on introduction to vegetable lacto-fermentation (sauerkraut, kimchi and brined veggies).
Shawn Rediske, owner of Waterhouse Foods in Lake Mills, really drills down into the bread, with different classes for whole-grain bagels, sourdough bread, sprouted grain loaves and rye and gluten-free yeast breads.
This will be the fourth year that Deirdre Birmingham, owner of the Cider Farm near Mineral Point, will be an instructor at Fermentation Fest. In the past, she mostly taught the history of hard cider with an accompanying tasting of different styles of what’s traditionally fermented apple juice. This year, cider-making will play a more prominent role in her lesson plan.
“Interest in cider has really blossomed in recent years, and that has people interested in making their own,” says Birmingham. “We’ll go over the type of apples to use, the equipment needed. The whole fermentation process.”
There are also a host of classes that stray from fermentation but stick with DIY food production. There’s Eco Printing and Dyeing, Beekeeping for Beginners, Plant-Based Paper Making, Hand-Built Beer Steins and Coffee Mugs and the intriguingly named Riding Cookies and Pickles to Freedom (a workshop on best practices and pitfalls of self-employment).
Jason Crebs
Nance Klehm will provide a crash course in foraging.
Nance Klehm, self-declared “steward of the earth,” will lead two field trips on identifying edible and medicinal plants in both urban (in downtown Reedsburg) and rural (Sauk County’s White Mound Park) environments.
Klehm’s interest in foraging began over two decades ago when she first discovered the surprising abundance of life tucked away in the old industrial corridors of Chicago.
“On just a half-mile stretch, I realized I had seen 67 species that were unintentionally planted. No one’s managing those landscapes. No one’s weed-whacking them. No one is spraying pesticides. All sorts of diversity was coming forward, and I was blown away,” says Klehm.
Dandelion, burdock, yellow dock, mallow and chickweed plants are common in Wisconsin and are typically categorized as invasive weeds — despite being edible or having medicinal properties. Klehm says once you are able to identify and recognize the value of these plants, the connection between landscapes and health emerges.
“I like showing people healthier ways of eating and taking care of their bodies,” says Klehm. “My hope is it stirs some curiosity in people that gets them to not only care more about their own health but also the impact humans have on the land.”
And that could serve as a motto for the fest in general, which runs Sept. 30-Oct. 9. Pre-register for classes and see the full schedule of events at fermentationfest.com.
