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Since I shared about our experience visiting Farmer's Markets in Poland last week, I thought today I would share about what we made from something we purchased at the market.  Fermented Pickles of course! 

My father-in-law, the head of our operations in Poland, purchased the cucumbers at the market.  We sometimes struggle to find the right kind of cucumbers at markets or in stores here.  But there were plenty to choose from at a number of vendors booths at the market in Nowy Sacz.

When we got them home, we quickly set them to ferment.  While we more or less follow the recipe that comes included with our crocks, my father-in-law is much more of a "wild" fermenter.  He doesn't measure anything, but just puts in whatever he feels like!  While this is scary for some people, his pickles always taste amazing, so he must be doing something right!

You might be wondering what this fermenting vessel is that the pickles are in.  We are always looking for new products that are made in Poland.  To make sure that we only offer the best to our customers, we typically try the products ourselves for a while before we offer them for sale.  We are testing out a large glass jar that would come with our Luna Glass Crock Weights!  If it looks like something you might be interested in, send me an email - emily@stonecreektrading.com. 

After only 3 days, these pickles tasted amazing!  We had them with every meal, especially breakfast.  Breakfast in Poland is typically a savory meal consisting of bread, eggs and deli meats and cheeses.  So the pickles were the perfect complimentary taste!

While our 6 year old is not a fan of fermented pickles, our 18 month old couldn't get enough of her Dziadek's pickles.  She was not happy with us when we told her she couldn't have anymore.  If we would have let her, I think she would have eaten the whole jar on her own!

And even if we didn't have time to ferment some pickles ourselves while in Poland, we could have always bought some at the supermarket!  It was really cool to see 2 varieties of fermented pickles and fermented sauerkraut available in the produce section of one of the big supermarkets in town.  I'd love to see more of this here in the US!

Are all these photos of delicious fermented pickles making you hungry?  Then go make some for yourself!  We have lots of options of fermenting vessels for sale on the website.  If you want to follow the recipe for our version of Polish Fermented Pickles, you can check out an early blog post here where we shared the recipe we include with our crocks!  Enjoy!

Today I am sharing more information from our recent trip to Poland.  We spent a lot of time visiting markets throughout the small towns in Southern Poland.  It was amazing to see the variety and quantity of items offered. 

Almost every town has a market at least one day a week and the larger towns have a market every day.  The market in Kryz's hometown of Nowy Sacz is everyday, and we visited multiple times during our trip. 

Similar to a farmer's market in America, there is a large section with fresh produce.  However, the variety of produce available in May was much larger than what we are seeing now in Illinois.  This is because there are many greenhouses throughout the countryside that allow tomatoes and cucumbers to be grown in cooler months.  And of course, some of the items are imported, as they are labeled. The culture in Poland is still practices shopping locally for food multiple times a week instead of large shopping trips to supermarkets.

I also love this section of the market.  These tables are set up for anyone to use.  If you have some extra produce you want to sell, you just lay it out on the table and offer it for sale.  Many people will use these tables to make a little extra money off the surplus items they grow and raise for themselves.  In addition to produce, we saw many people selling eggs, cheese and even chickens!

There are also many booths selling goods as well.  People in Poland have a tradition of frequenting markets for their shopping.  Many people still don't have or use a car regularly, and with the new large supermarkets being located on the outskirts of town, these markets in the town center are used for many purchases.  We loved these booths which featured goods made in Poland.  From novelty, to decorative to functional, Poland has a so many products to offer!

I've got lots more to share with you in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!  Next up I will share about two other large markets we visited!

We are back from our new product scouting trip to Poland!  It was a wonderful trip meeting with our suppliers and seeking out new products to offer.  I can't wait to share our adventures with you!  In the meantime, we are all caught up with orders and back on track with our typical 1-2 day shipping processing time.  Now if we could just recover from the jet lag!

We did a lot on this trip, so I'm going to break up a recap over multiple blog posts.  Today I'm going to start with some more personal updates before getting into the business side of things. 

This trip was very important to our family as it is the first time that our daughters were able to visit Kryz's hometown of Nowy Sacz, Poland.  It was a special opportunity to meet many of their dad's family members for the first time.  We also explored the region visiting many popular tourist sites to break up the business meetings and make it more fun for a 6 year old and 18 month old!

While traveling throughout the area, we crossed over the Kamienica several times.  It was great to see the "Stone Creek" that gave our business it's name.  And just like our logo, the Kamienica wiggles its way through the region, meaning we crossed back and forth over it many, many times!

We enjoyed visiting many of the popular tourist sites in Poland.  The salt mines in Wieliczka are so unique and beautiful.  This cathedral is over 100 meters underground and completely carved from salt!

Of course, we also had to visit Wawel Castle in Krakow.  This amazing complex of structures surrounds a courtyard.  And of course, we had to explore the cave below where the legendary Smok dragon lived!

I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the fun side of our trip.  Keep an eye on the blog for more of the business related aspects of our trip coming soon!

We know that in this day and age everyone expects fast shipping.  As a "mom and pop internet shop" we do our best to keep our processing time to 1-2 business days, even during our busiest months.  But because we are committed to giving you the highest quality products, packed in the best way possible, we choose to keep all shipping in house.  That means when we need to be away to take care of other aspects of the business, we occasionally need to have longer order processing times. 

We will be taking a short break to check in with our suppliers to make sure the products they make are up to our quality standards.  In addition, we will be looking for more natural products to add to our website.  We would love to hear what items you would like to see at Stone Creek Trading .  Send an email to emily@stonecreektrading.com with your suggestions and we will see what we can find!

If you have an urgent need for something from Stone Creek Trading, be sure to place your order before midnight on Tuesday, May 10 to ensure it ships before we temporarily halt shipping.  We will begin shipping orders again on Sunday, May 22.  You can still place your order at any time, but we will hold all orders until the 22nd to begin shipping in the order they were received.   Customer service will continue during this time, but response times may be a little slower.

To make up for this temporary shipping delay, we are offering a free Wood Mushroom Nutcracker ($10 value) to all orders placed between Wednesday May 11 through Saturday May 21.  No code needed, we'll add them to all orders once we begin shipping again.  Thanks again for your support as we grow our business!

Out with the old and in with the new!  Boleslawiec has recently been updating the design of their classic fermenting crocks.  They are incorporating new technology to make a smoother, more uniform finish on their fermenting crocks.  We already introduced the new design for the 10L Olive Green Fermenting Crocks, and now we are happy to offer the traditional brown 5L Fermenting Crocks in this new design as well!

Boleslawiec has been listening to our customers feedback and made some changes to the design of their 5L Fermenting Crocks.  The primary change is to use a smoother clay that results in a more even finish.  This clay is lighter in color and weight, meaning the crocks don't weigh as much and are easier to move around. 

They have also improved the glazing process to result in a more uniform surface.  In addition, the rim of the crock is now completely glazed! 

Finally, the shape of the lid for the 5L Fermenting Crocks has changed to be a higher dome shape, as you can see in the above photo.  The lid on the left is the previous design, and the lid on the right is the new version. 

As always, you can purchase the 5L Fermenting Crocks on their own, or in our 5L Beginner's Fermenting Kits.

We are excited to hear what our customers think about these new changes.  As always, if you have any questions, just email me - emily@stonecreektrading.com!

Who's looking for some new decorative fermenting crocks? We've added 4 new designs in 2 different sizes of Artisan Fermenting Crocks by a new small Polish ceramic studio.  Check out these beautiful crocks in the following motifs - Leaves, Mushroom, Lavender and Grapes.

Artisan Fermenting Crock, Leaves 2.5L or 5L

These colorful crocks feature a cream colored base glaze.  The exterior of the crock then has an additional translucent brown hand applied glaze on the exterior.  The designs on the crock are both carved into the ceramic and hand painted.  As always, the glaze is lead and cadmium free.

Artisan Fermenting Crock, Mushroom 2.5L or 5L

We currently offer these Decorative Fermenting Crocks 2 different sizes - 2.5 liter and 5 liter!  The 2.5L crock is great for small batches and experimentation.  They are a wonderful size for display as well.  Unfortunately, due to the small size of the 2.5L crocks, we don't have weights to fit in them, and therefore weights are not included with the 2.5L crocks. 

Artisan Fermenting Crock, Lavender 2.5L or 5L

The 5L Artisan Fermenting Crocks are the standard size for a fermenting vessel.  The are perfect for most fermenters, from beginning to advanced.  The 5L size will be easy to move around and fit on your kitchen countertop, but big enough to produce a lot of fermented goods!  The 5L Artisan Fermenting Crocks come with our 6.5" Luna Glass Crock Weights included.

Artisan Fermenting Crock, Grapes 2.5L or 5L

So head on over to the website to check out these unique, new Artisan Fermenting Crocks.  We hope you like them as much as we do!

It's officially Spring!  The days are longer, the sun is brighter and the weather is warming up.  We are starting to plant our garden and looking forward to spending long days outside. 

As spring takes it's full effect, we've got a few fun products that will help you truly enjoy this season.  Of course, as you spend more time in your yard or garden, you may want to add a little decoration with one of our garden lanterns.

We have several different designs that help to add a unique touch to your outdoor space.

We are also preparing for another right of spring - April Showers!  Be sure to grab one of our beautiful umbrellas to help brighten up those rainy days.  We have 3 designs that will add some color and flair to your rain gear.

Add a few of these fun Stone Creek Trading products to your order today and start celebrating Spring!