What is the shelf life of kraut?  An unopened jar will last a year.  We recommend two months for an opened jar.  It helps to press the kraut down into the juice after each use.

What is the best way to take SuperTonic?  Many creative ways to take SuperTonic.  The latest suggestion is to put 1 - 2 tablespoons SuperTonic in 1-2 cups of hot water and add honey to taste.  Makes a delicious hot tea.  Other suggestions include 2-4 tablespoons in pint jar, add equal amount of honey or maple syrup, and top off with a fruit juice.  However, some like it straight,, some use it as a barbecue sauce, some add it to their morning "smoothie."  

Do we use vinegar to make our krauts or pickles?  No, the natural fermentation process generates its own healthy lactic and other organic acids.

I would like to make my own ferments.  Can you give me any tips? Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz are excellent resources.  However, you can e-mail us with specific questions (localgrower@gmail.com) and we will be happy to provide pointers and tips.

I have heard the lactic acid is what makes your muscles ache after intense exercise.  Why is lactic acid considered desirable?  There are two forms of lactic acid: L(+) and D(-). Sauerkraut and other lactic acid-fermented foods contain the L(+) which is necessary for the creation of energy in the muscles, liver and red blood cells.  Also lactic acid is a basic substance for making glucose and fatty acids.  While the body can make its own, supplementing our diets with food rich in L(+) lactic acid has many positive effects.  D(-) lactic acid is produced when insufficient oxygen which is necessary to metabolize pyruvic acid results in the conversion of pyruvic acid to D(-) lactic acid.

How do I use sauerkraut?  Many ways!  It really wakes up a salad.  It's great as a side with almost any food: casseroles, meats, eggs, rice, beans, potatoes....mix a little in your stir-fried vegetables (after they're cooked please, so you don't kill the live enzymes and probiotics with the heat.  How about on a grilled cheese sandwich?

What is KimChi good with?  We love it with eggs or hamburger.  It is fantastic on a sweet potato or winter squash with coconut oil.  Always add the kraut or KimChi after, not during cooking.  You want the full benefit of the raw, living food.

We use Celtic Sea Salt to make our ferments.  How is this salt different from regular table salt?

What is the difference between Raw Fermented Kraut and commercial supermarketl Sauerkraut?

Ketchup: The Kid-Friendly Ferment - Teaming with probiotics and good-for-the-gut natural acids!

Salsa: Probiotic Condiment. Contains natural chelators.

BBQ Sauce: Perhaps our most robust, mature flavored product yet!

What They Are Publishing About Us:

Examiner.com article on SuperTonic:   http://www.examiner.com/alternative-medicine-in-indianapolis/product-review-hidden-pond-farm-s-supertonic-review

Examiner.com article on Kombucha:

http://www.examiner.com/alternative-medicine-in-indianapolis/product-review-hidden-pond-farm-kombucha-review

Exminer.com article on KimChi

http://www.examiner.com/nutrition-in-indianapolis/product-review-hidden-pond-farm-s-kimchi-review

http://www.bloomingfoods.coop/

Product Listing:

Krauts:

KimChi

Red

Veggie

Root

Garlic Dill

Green

Hot Hot KimChi

Sweet Onion Dill 

Kombucha Varieties:

Ginger

Mint

Cranberry

Pear

Spruce-Spruce needles high in Vit. C

Pineapple

Cherry

Plain

Grape

Beet Kvass:

Plain

Dill

KimChi

Ginger 

Tomato Ferments (Coming Soon)

Ketchup

BBQ Sauce

Salsa

Other Products:

SuperTonic

Fermented Dill Pickles

Ancient High-Potency Remedy for inflammations, fevers, flu, colds, infections.

 “The FRESH JUICES of organic Horseradish Root drive this formula to your head, sinus, throat and lungs, where you need it. The organic Garlic Juice and its next of kin, organic Onion Juice, are the two best herbs to flush micro-organisms from your body. The organic Yellow Ginger Root Juice and Habanero Pepper Juice stimulate your blood and lymphatic flow like no other herbs to get your immune cells to the bad guys, as fast as possible. The organic, raw, unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar preserves all of these plant juices and cleanses your body, too.”  Dr. Richard Schulze

Do not underestimate the power of this combination. We’ve used it for 15 years to great effect, whenever we feel a cold, flu or inflammation.

Suggested usage:

Shake in the sediment before pouring.

Adults: Add 2-4 tablespoons to jar, followed by 1-4 tablespoons honey or maple syrup. Add a cup or more of real juice (orange, apple, etc). Shake and sip often until desired effect is achieved.

 When detoxifying, drink plenty of water (preferably filtered).

 SuperTonic is powerful and very hot. Can be taken full strength for maximum effect if desired

 One customer uses it as a hot sauce on barbecued chicken. Mighty healthy sauce!

Update on how to take SuperTonic: 1 - 2 Tablespoons SuperTonic in one cup hot water.  Add honey to taste.  Makes a zingy delicious tea!

The Making of SuperTonic

Habanero Pepper (one of the hotter peppers)

   Fights inflammation, clears mucus membranes, detoxifies, stimulates blood flow, protects and nourishes the heart; stimulates every organ quickly

Garlic Bulb

   Kills bad bacteria, fungi and parasites, anti-carcinogenic

Onion

   Anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, supports digestion

Ginger

   Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, improves digestion

Horseradish Root

   Anti-biotic, dissolves thick mucus, heats the body, brings blood to the brain

Raw unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar

   Digestive aid, pH balance, mineral balance, organic acids, enzymes, probiotics, protects and preserves all components

Components are shredded, then vinegar-aged in a glass vessel protected from light. After aging, pulp is juiced and bottled. No heat is applied at any time. For optimum nutritional value we do not filter out the pulp sediment after juicing.

SuperTonic does not require refrigeration and will keep for years. It will not spoil, but simply for maximum freshness we recommend refrigerating it after one year if you have not used it up.

Health Benefits of SuperTonic

In accordance with FDA regulations, we do not claim this product to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure any disease. But we can report that for 15 years we have consistently experienced relief from cold, flu and inflammatory symptoms after taking SuperTonic.

The components of SuperTonic instantly energize and stimulate every organ and give a surge of circulation, dilating blood vessels, including to the brain and the heart. By stimulating circulation, it speeds the powerful effects to where they are most needed.

It dissolves mucus, clears sinus and lungs, nourishes and protects the heart, balances digestion, fights inflammation, kills bad bugs and heats the body.

We could give a number of anecdotes, but we’ll just tell a few for now. A woman came to us and asked, “Will it help my arthritis pain?” We said, “We don’t know, but it will not harm you.” The following week she told us, “It actually helped ease my arthritis pain, in one week!”

Another woman who was on oxygen with cystic fibrosis breathed better and reduced her requirement for oxygen using SuperTonic.  (the antibiotics no longer were helping her.)

Several customers told us “This product really does stop the flu!”

These are only a few testimonials. Again we state that SuperTonic is not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat or cure any disease. We merely report that it has seemed to help us and others with inflammation-related problems.

Addendum:

What some of our customers have been saying to us:

Thanks for the info, I have already tried the tonic and it works great.  Haven't heard of the Weston Price Org.  but I will check them out.  Thanks again.

 Gary

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My husband's been down with what "we think" is the flu for a week now and he loves the tonic.

His flu symptoms are so low than he's used to, that we're not even sure it's the flu. He's usually bed ridden for 24 hours, but that hasn't happened. Though it's been lingering enough to where he's not normal for a week and we've run out of tonic.

Thank you for what you do!!!

Gina

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I bought some supertonic at the Apple Family Farm in McCordsville and I love it!  I haven't gotten "sick" since taking it! 

thanks so much!!
Trisha

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  Hello !   I am a patient and friend of ­­­­­________.  She highly recommends your Super Tonic to ward off the dreaded Hoosier Winter Crud.

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Now that your on-line ordering is up I am going to put up a post on my facebook page telling my friends to go check it. Also another little marketing thing I thought of, did you ever see the movie “The Karate Kid”? It came out back in the 80’s. In it at one point the Old master has the kid drink some tea, the kid says ohh tastes awful, the Old Master says yaya “Taste bad work good, now drink”. I think that fits Super Tonic perfectly!

David

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That super tonic is so wonderful that it is becoming a wonderful part of our goal toward healthy living. 

Jane

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Well, it looks like I was able to stop the diverticulitis this time without antibiotics, and with juice fasting and Supertonic. Here's what I did, in case you're collecting anecdotes.

When I first noticed the pain, while it was VERY MILD, I stopped eating.( Probably only people who have had this a few times would recognize it immediately. The beginning symptom is so mild that if you didn't know what it was, you'd ignore it.)
Did a water fast the first day.
From the second day, I drank juice only, (and potassium broth) almost entirely vegetable, lots of greens, celery, carrot, parsley, spinach, kale, cucumber. For the entire week I only used 2 apples, which was the only fruit I used.
In the morning, I drank potassium broth with 1 teaspoon of Supertonic.
I added 1 teaspoon Supertonic to each 2 cup glass of vegetable juice. I also juiced 2 cloves of garlic per each 2 cup glass of vegetable juice. I usually drank 2 to 3 of these per day.
Later in the week, as I found I could easily tolerate 1 teaspoon Super T, I started adding 3 teaspoons per glass. If I have to do this again, I would start with 3 teaspoons per glass. It actually tastes good in the vegetable juice. Kind of like bloody mary mix without the tomato. ???

I did this for 7 days, then did a gradual 3 day transition to food. I've been eating normal food for a couple days now, and feel fine. First time I've gotten through this without antibiotics. One note: I wouldn't try this if the pain had gotten bad already. AND I went to the doctor, who gave me antibiotics to have on hand in case the pain got worse. He did say I could try this fast though, and that it might work. Looks like it did!

-Laura

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I have heard that SuperTonic MIGHT help arthritic symptoms, but did not take this advice seriously.  For two weeks I had been experiencing weakness and burning pain anytime I tried to use my left hand for gripping or doing daily chores.  I tried the usual anti-arthritic herbs and supplements but to no avail.  Then I caught a flu the day before a farmer's market where I was a vendor.  I mixed SuperTonic with juice and sipped it every 20 minutes awake and every time I woke up in the night.  The next morning my flu symptoms were gone, but more amazingly to me - not a trace of pain in my left hand.  It has remained that way to date.

--Beverly

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We are Andy and Beverly McDowell and we run a small farm-based new enterprise in Wayne County.   Years ago, in a quest to solve certain health problems, particularly digestive, we started making raw fermented sauerkraut and other raw fermented cultured vegetables and beverages, based on Sally Fallon’s book Nourishing Traditions.  In 2008, we were fortunate enough to acquire the “Old Home Place,” boyhood home of Andy.  Our interest in finding real answers to health problems coupled with a passion for organic gardening and a need to pay for the farm, spawned the Hidden Pond Farm enterprise. 

We raise as much of our ingredients (organically grown, of course) as we can manage.  The first year much of our effort was spent clearing land for gardening.   One of our first acquisitions was a European scythe, a fabulous tool for dealing with a field that was out of control with weeds, poison ivy, and wild berries.  We then sought to buy a good commercial tiller, but the constraint of little working capital drove us to a better direction: No-till gardening.   We construct our long beds by layering cardboard or newspaper, compost, and finally straw or hay.   Many trips to a local horse stable and many loads of manure resulting in long windrows which we watered and turned by hand systematically gave us delectable compost.  A local farmer sold us 20 round bales of old hay for a pittance enabling us to mulch generously.  Finally, we purchased a small greenhouse from a neighbor to extend our growing season.

Our farming/gardening methods are beyond organic. We utilize traditional organic buildup practices, more than most in fact. But we also employ the broad mineral balance, trace mineral addition and other high brix methods. The result is organically rich, high brix, mineral-balanced foods with world-class health attributes.

Our aim is to provide local folks with healthy, tradition-crafted raw lacto-fermented Sauerkrauts, KimChi, Kvass, and Kombucha.  August 14, 2010 Andy just completed construction of our state-certified facility located on our farm.  This facility is perhaps the only one dedicated solely to making ferments in the state of Indiana.  We are now able to make our products on site  in temperature-controlled chambers for more consistent and high quality products.   

Wishing each of you the best in your quest for good health and good living.

KimChi Facts

An entire class of foods has been crowded out of the modern food chain and out of our diet, and much to the detriment of our health. Fortunately, we can restore that missing link, which is raw fermented foods.

Ferments are as old as civilization. Prior to modern methods of preservation, fermenting food was the main method of preserving it. But what we forgot when we developed modern methods such as pasteurization and chemical-based preservatives were the indispensable nutritive values to be found in raw fermented foods. It is no accident that the more processes and chemical additives we apply to our foods, the less healthy we become.

Raw is Good, and Raw and Fermented is Even Better

We’re familiar with classes of foods such as meat, grain, fruit and vegetable. What about RAW as a class of food? Whether a food is raw or cooked has as great an effect as what type of food it is.

In this era of processed foods, we find that pasteurization, canning and chemical preservatives have taken the place of older, more natural ways of preserving. And it works, after a fashion. The food is preserved. Looking more closely though, the tradeoff doesn’t seem quite so good. Pasteurization, for example, kills the natural enzymes and probiotics (the gut-healthy bacteria) that are in all raw foods. That’s why we pasteurize, for without live bacteria and active enzymes, food does not so easily spoil. Dead food does not spoil as fast as live food.

But what about the health values of those active enzymes? What were the enzymes good for? Well, the body uses enzymes in most all of its functions – digestion, metabolism and so on. So when we eat food that is depleted of enzymes, it does us far less good. True, the body itself produces enzymes, but at a cost. The body has to draw nutritive resources, sometimes from organs and tissues, to produce enzymes that are missing from foods. And, our ability to produce enzymes slowly declines as we age; we just don’t produce enzymes as well as when we were younger.

Where do enzymes fit in with fermentation. We find that far from killing active enzymes, fermentation actually enhances them and builds even more enzymes that were not already in the raw food. Raw, fermented sauerkraut, the kind Grandma made, is alive with active, health-supporting enzymes. And those enzymes have actually begun the process of digestion on the cabbage, rendering it more body ready. So not only is raw sauerkraut partially pre-digested for us, it also contains abundant active enzymes to help our body finish the job of digestion and absorption.

What about the probiotics in raw foods? A healthy gut contains up to several pounds (trillions) of living bacteria. And these bacteria play very active roles in helping us digest food and absorb its nutrients. Without these ‘friendly’ bacteria, our immune system does not work well, and we do not digest well. In our modern era, we are exposed to many things that deplete our gut’s population of helpful flora. Chlorine kills bacteria. That’s why it is put in our water (to make it ‘safe’ to drink). But it kills bacteria indiscriminately, the good along with the bad. Antibiotics are downright devastating to our gut populations of friendly flora. Antibiotics have their place in dealing with serious infections (unfriendly bacteria), but antibiotics, like chlorine, are indiscriminate. These high potency drugs kill good and bad alike when it comes to bacteria.

Again, raw fermented foods come to our rescue. All raw vegetables and fruits have hundreds of species of helpful bacteria on them as they are picked. If you’ve noticed a whitish substance on your veggies or fruits, that’s what that is. And there are living bacteria throughout the fresh veggie or fruit as well. So what happens to these friendly guys when they are put into Grandma’s kraut crock? The answer is they proliferate. So every bite of fresh raw fermented sauerkraut is teaming with probiotics as well as the active enzymes. These good guys take up residence in the gut and proliferate further, helping to crowd out less friendly ones (think digestive stagnation and infections).

Maybe all Grandma knew was that it worked, but we know now the great health values of fermented foods. What's better than raw food? Raw, fermented food, The Forgotten Superfood.