Fermentation Brine Percentage and Tannins This is probably a 2 part question.


When determining how much salt to add to my brine... what is the best method? Is the percentage based on the weight of the veggies or is it the weight of the water into which the veggies will be fermenting?
Where the heck can I find things like grape leaves, oak leaves, etc to add tannins to keep my veggies crisp?


Edit:
So... to further clarify... would it be "advisable" to determine how much water I need to cover my X grams of "things to be fermented"... the weigh that water and calculate salt percentage... or, can I just take 1L of water... weigh that... calculate my salt... then cover what's in the vessel?
Calculate your brine percentage by dividing the weight of salt by the weight of water, then multiply by 100.  Most vegetable ferments are in the 1.5% - 5% range. It appears many people find the 2-3% range ideal.  If you can't find oak or grape, I have seen that some folks use tea leaves for added tannin.