I found a tip online about making yogurt. Yogurt is not applicable here, but the tip is. The best yogurt is made from starter made from ant eggs or barring that, anthill dirt. They were right! If you are looking for "local" starters for ferments, I think this is a good idea. It was suggested different types of ants would have different types of bacteria. For instance wood ants would harbor bacteria helpful in breaking down cellulose and all the things we can't digest.
You would think the vegetables, if organic and local, would have all the strains necessary for fermentation though.
On the subject, I read that using a starter for sauerkraut will cause the ferment to skip the first step, since the starter has already been through multiple stages of fermentation. I don't remember the details but supposedly, sauerkraut made without a starter using organic cabbage already containing the necessary strains, turns out the best.
Perhaps a little anthill dirt thrown in (or strain the brine through ant eggs) would make a better starter for sauerkraut, and contribute to probiotic diversity.
Ant eggs can be collected by taking a tarp and folding up the edges, sitting it down and shoveling the middle of an anthill onto it. The ants will grab the eggs and hide them between the folds of the tarp, then leave. Then you can unfold it and collect the eggs.
Before doing any adventurous experiments be sure to have read on the subject of keeping a proper anaerobic environment and keeping the ferment from molding or otherwise rotting. There is a lot of nice hints online, but not all in one place.
