Welcome — I'm so glad you're here. 💚 This is a space where traditional Polish fermentation wisdom meets modern everyday life, and where I hope you'll feel at home whether you're a complete beginner or someone who already has a few jars bubbling on the shelf. To get us started, introduce yourself below and tell me: 🧑‍🌾 Your name and where you're fermenting from 🫙 What brought you here — health, curiosity, a family tradition? 🥣 One ferment you're excited to finally get right I read every single one and I'll reply personally. If growing is part of your world too, share that — fermentation and the garden go hand in hand here. Martyna

Tonight's dinner is a bit of a Polish classic and it made me think how simple 'peasant food' was all that people need. Cabbage and onion as a prebiotic, kefir and sauerkraut as a probiotic and some lovel starchy potatoes & pork neck for those opting for meat, which many in Poland did. Don't be shy, share a classic recipe that you love that hits the spot for you - with ferments or not!

Lovely to see so any of you joining today. I hope you enjoy the course! If you have any questions or feedback, post below.

In the course you would have been introduced to Wieliczka Salt Mine, a Polish national treasure. So just as I was planning a trip to visit my Grandma Jasia in May, I thought I'll check the nearby salt mine for any attractions. And there we go, I just booked us to sleep in the mine for one night - ! You can expect a full report on this once we're back - probably with a whole new immune system in place! The Wieliczka Salt Mine Spa is located 135 meters underground, in the chambers of Level III of the mine. It is the only underground medical facility in Poland and one of the most unique in the world, operating in historic mine workings. The microclimate in the healing chambers is characterized by exceptional air purity, a constant temperature (approx. 14–16°C), high humidity (60–80%), and a saturated salt aerosol containing trace elements such as sodium, magnesium, and calcium. All of this supports effective rehabilitation and treatment of respiratory conditions, including asthma, COPD, allergies, and complications of viral infections.🧂💂🏼‍♀️

DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with Zoe and I started collecting these data purely for interest in increasing my nutrition, health and to satisfy my, somewhat nerdy, personality to put numbers on things As I said in my introduction, I have been following the Zoe nutrition plan for close to 2 years. I started in July 2024 and although I thought I was eating well, but there had been a degree of UPF consumption due to a lack of time and understanding, consequently my Gut biome score was ranked as very poor with 27/50 "good bacteria" and 20/50 "bad bacteria" (as determined my Zoe scientists), Following their advice on foods to eat according to their prediction and measurement of my sugar and lipid metabolism, I retested in November 2024 and my biome score had increases from 132/1000 to 438/1000 with 32/50 "good bacteria" and 14/50 " bad bacteria" I then had to take some antibiotics so didn't retest until December 2025 by which time, my score had increased to 547 with 35/50 "good bacteria" and 10/50 "bad bacteria" Up until now, I have not been eating many fermented foods other that greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, and commercial kimchis, and more recently homemade kefir. I am keen to add the fermented foods in from this class to see what they will have on the "numbers" when I get round to retesting at the end of the year ( or sooner if I can't contain my excitement) I hope this is interesting, and as I say the Zoe programme is "personalised" so this post is not intended to give advice and is just for interest to show this group how the food we eat can affect gut and general health