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Homegrown Collective
Cost: $48/month ($39 + $9 S/H).
Ships To: United States and Canada (add an additional $10 for S/H).

The Homegrown Collective, who kindly sent me this box to review, includes seasonally appropriate, professionally curated products that deliver the satisfaction of living a more self-sufficient & sustainable lifestyle to your doorstep each month.

The Homegrown Collective ships via USPS Priority Mail. Boxes are shipped at the end of the month, which may mean you receive your box in the first few days of the month.  I received this at the beginning of the May, but just had a chance to work on it over the weekend.  I haven’t had a chance to do my review (well actually I haven’t done the project yet) for March yet, but I swear that one is coming soon too!

I typically try to guess the theme of the boxes when I open them, but I never can.  They come up with projects and ideas that I never would be able to on my own.  And not only that, but the projects are usually things I think are way too complicated for me to ever attempt on my own, but they really aren’t thanks to Homegrown Collective.

The May 2014 Homegrown Collective theme is “Let’s Get Fermented” and includes two projects – making fermented chipotle ketchup and making spicy mustard.  I am not at all familiar with the fermenting process, but according to the information card, the key to fermenting foods is to create an environment conducive to the health of beneficial bacteria and detrimental to that of unwelcome organisms.  All of the materials needed to make this happen were included as well as the instructions to do so!  Here are the details:

~Chipotle Ketchup:  Homemade fermented ketchup is devoid of processed sugar and / or high-fructose corn syrup.  In order to make it you need tomato powder, a canning jar plus air-lock lid, whey, sea salt, garlic, chipotle pepper, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and filtered water.  What I didn’t realize when I brought this box up-north was that I needed the canning jar and air-lock lid for both projects.  Had I know this, I think I would have bought another jar with an air-lock lid so we could have done both at the same time.  But I ended up leaving this one up there for my cousin to do after the mustard is done!

~Spicy Mustard: The second project was spicy mustard and included the jar and air-lock lid, brown and yellow mustard seeds, apple cider vinegar, garlic, whey powder, pacific sea salt and filtered water.  We also had to add a raw, mild honey or a sweetener of choice.  We opted for honey because my cousin actually has her own hives!

I am not a fan of the smell of mustard, so blending this all together was pretty stinky for me!  It wasn’t difficult at all though and took maybe five minutes to complete.

After we blending it together we put it in the canning jar, put the air-lock lid on and added water.  And now we wait.  According to the instructions you need to wait three days while it ferments and then transfer it back to the jar that the mustard seeds came in and put it in the refrigerator to halt the fermentation process.  The mustard is now at my cousins house fermenting and she has promised to send pictures of the final project which I will report back with!  And then it’s on to making the ketchup!

What do you think of The Homegrown Collective?   Boxes are $48 /month and, of course, are even cheaper if you buy a 6-month ($39/month) or 12-month ($35.75/month) subscription!  If you are interested in subscribing, or just want to learn more, click here.  And don’t forget to use the code “RAMBLIN10″ to save $10 off your first box!!!

Disclosure: This complimentary box was sent for review purposes. As always, all opinions are my own and no compensation was received.