Lacto Fermented Green Tomato Pickles

1 wide mouth quart preserving jar

enough green tomatoes to fill the jar to 1 inch below the lid (only use tomatoes that are totally green, the ones that made you crazy at the start of the summer) I actually used green cherry tomatoes from the branches of the tomatoes plants that I needed to trim!

1 dill head or 1 fresh dill sprig or 2 Tbsp dried dill or dill seed)

1 hot pepper with the stem pulled off (optional)

1 large or 2 medium or 3 small cloves of garlic

1 Tbsp canning and pickling salt

4 Tbsp whey - I use kefir milk whey(or substitute an additional Tbsp of canning and pickling salt)

Filtered water

Wash the tomatoes and remove their stems and place in the clean wide mouth jar to 1 inch below the rim. Add the garlic, dill and hot pepper between the tomatoes and add the salt and whey, if using.

 Fill the jars with water to 1 inch below the rim and screw on the airlock lid. Store at room temperature for 3-4 days (3 days when kept at 72°) before placing on the top shelf of your fridge. They can be eaten after the 3 - 4 days but are better after a month of storage. It's normal if the brine is fizzy or there is white foam floating on the top.

As a full disclosure thing, the green tomatoes in the photo are not fermented yet. When done they will be more of an olive green color, and the brine will be cloudy. I  wanted to post this while there were still green tomatoes for people to use.