Green Tea Fermentation Jar

During one of the most harrowing times out here in the desert, after suffering a debilitating injury, my garden plants all died. I couldn't walk or stand to keep them alive. Only able to barely crawl around, I managed to barely survive by eating my spent green tea leaves. Without cooking or refrigeration, I relied completely on food preservation by means of wild fermentation, or salt brines. It turns out, there are a lot more nutrients in cold brewed green tea than in hot brewed. So I was lucky to be able to not only have more cold brew green tea rituals, but was also able to eat the leaves out of the brine rather than simply compost them. It was probably some of the worst tasting food I've ever eaten, it was extremely bitter and there wasn't much I could do to offset the bad taste. It did keep me alive until the life saving resupply delivery I eventually got. I never want to repeat this process, but at least I know it's possible. Just another survival situation where the will to improvise, adapt, and overcome kept me alive. Beyond mere survival, it's another dimension of appreciation that you get for restoring things back to "normal". To have survived the ordeal, got the garden growing again, and have more diverse food stuffs, I appreciate more than ever what I took for granted before being pushed to the edge. I wouldn't tempt that kind of fate for fun or to gain new appreciation for things, but when forced to survive on scraps, if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger, and more appreciative.