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

If you're in southern England you'll have noticed a rather wild thunderstorm last night — a supercell. They form a huge dark cloud with a green glow below and bring violent thunder and lightning, followed by massive rainfall, often with hail. I was going to do some fermentation, but hearing the rumbling in the distance, I remembered: a storm is the only time it's genuinely not worth fermenting. I tried it once in Yorkshire — a ferment set earlier in the day turned rotten, not sour, by morning. This isn't folklore. Or rather — it started as folklore, and turned out to be true. People have been documenting this connection for centuries. In 1685, Flemish alchemist Franciscus Mercurius van Helmont wrote that during thunder, beer and milk would turn sour in cellars, attributing it to corruption spreading through the air. In 1800, Noah Webster — yes, the dictionary man — hypothesised that lightning curdles milk by lowering barometric pressure. By the late 19th century, European scientists were actively debating the mechanism, with theories ranging from electrically charged air molecules to atmospheric fumes. A 1937 Telegraph article was still calling it "the thunderstorm-curdled milk puzzle." The observation was consistent across centuries and cultures. The explanation kept eluding them. Until now. There are at least four overlapping mechanisms at play, and the science is catching up fast. Temperature and humidity Before a storm hits, temperature spikes and humidity surges. Lactic acid bacteria — your Lactobacillus crew — prefer stable, cooler conditions. That pre-storm warmth favours spoilage bacteria and unwanted yeasts, which multiply faster and outcompete LAB for the fermentation environment before the storm even arrives. Atmospheric pressure drop Barometric pressure drops sharply ahead of a thunderstorm. Research into fermentation under variable pressure conditions shows that even modest drops disturb the osmotic environment — the conditions bacteria use to absorb water and nutrients. It's a subtle shift, but enough to throw off a ferment in its vulnerable early stages.

This is nuts! Super excited for what this could turn out to taste like. I hate pickles but I'm willing to try these.

Welcome to the first article in what I hope will be a growing collection here on Magic Martyna Ferments. Salt is at the heart of everything we do in fermentation — but its story goes so much deeper than the jar. This piece is about one of the most extraordinary places on earth, a personal adventure 135 metres underground, and a tradition of salt healing that stretches back centuries. I hope it gives you a new appreciation for this humble, ancient crystal — and if any of the home remedies spark curiosity or memories of your own, please share them in the comments below. I'd love to hear what you know. Last month I had an experience like no other — I spent the night 135 metres below the ground, surrounded by rock formations older than I can comprehend, breathing in salt particles as I slept, in total darkness broken only by sounds that could only come from the undiscovered depths of the Earth (or from a fellow tourist snoring — allegedly). All this thanks to the Wieliczka Salt Mine: not only one of the original UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but also home to a unique health centre that has been focused on pulmonology recovery for many years. Wieliczka Salt Mine Tour The world is such an extraordinary place that it's hard to decide what to see in a lifetime, never mind assess the value of all its beauty. Throughout the ages, humans have recognised special places and worked to protect them so that their wonder could be preserved and passed on. One of the first formal collections of such places was the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Two of those original sites happen to be in my motherland, Poland — Kraków's City Square, the largest medieval market in Europe, and the Wieliczka Salt Mine, just under an hour's drive away. In theory, you can see both in a single short trip to Kraków, which is one of the most popular city breaks in Poland — and for very good reason. While almost every Polish citizen has visited the mine on a school trip, many return multiple times — with friends, to discover new routes, or to explore attractions such as the Miners' Route or the health centre. If I count correctly, my last visit was my fifth, and even then we walked a route I had never seen before.

A little summery offering for June: white cabbage, with apple and carrot and red pepper for sweetness, with garlic, chili, juniper and dill - I’m hooked on ferments !