Fermentation Failures and a Few Successes

Last week I was off of school, I decided to attempt some lacto-fermented foods. Lacto-fermented foods are rich in all sorts of good bacteria to support a healthy gut, and they can be super tasty as well. I failed with 50% of my projects, but I had a couple of successes. I tried out orange marmalade, root beer, ginger beer, and cortido (Latin American Sauerkraut), I used Nourishing Traditions for recipes . My root beer and orange marmalade failed.
     The marmalade just didn't taste good it was too bitter, maybe I didn't cut the oranges thin enough, maybe I didn't use enough sugar or maybe my whey wasn't good (I drained some yogurt that had been sitting in the fridge for a bit). For now I'm hoping that maybe sitting in the back of the fridge for awhile will help my marmalade get a delicate sweet taste, and if not oh well...
     My root beer I screwed up on, I let it ferment for a week rather than the 2 days it required. It got moldy. I scraped the mold off and tried some, it smelled delicious like good root beer, but it tasted horrible. Its also sitting in the fridge for now until I decide to dump it out, but I will be trying again at some point, since I'd like to find a healthy, tasty lacto-fermented beverage.
     My cortido is very tasty, a bit sweet for my tastes but I can imagine it pairing beautifully with some chicken mole or grain free enchiladas.
     My ginger beer isn't done yet, but its bubbling which is what it should be doing by now, so I'm happy about that :)

                                                    Orange Marmalade

                                                    Root Beer

                                            Cortido- yes I know it looks a little gross in the crock but its tasty I swear!