Why are food prices rising so fast?

[silverseeds]

  you mentioned it in another post also I believe, but higher protein greens, are also good fodder for many types of animals.... Some animals can get by on lower quality forage, but things with higher protein and more minerals will certainly help in a possible age buying supplements for animals is not cheap or maybe not possible.

    i really try to make sure i get my nutrients from a range of sources as well. I keep it some what simple on a per meal or per day basis or do usually, but like to have a real diversity overall.... my body seems to appreciate it.

[Atash Hagmahani]

I can't find any instructions online for drying and then reviving Kombucha SCOBYs.

Other cultures you can dry and sort of revive. I think the bacteria die, but leave behind endospores that will produce new bacteria. Yeast simply go dormant.

If we could dry a SCOBY we could send one to Future.

Or we could send him a different culture that does dry. He could make Ginger Beer instead of Kombucha.

[Lady Lilya]

You can make ginger beer without a culture.  It gets all the bacteria it needs from the air.  I've got a recipe I'm looking forward to trying after we get settled in to the new house.  It involves making a "bug" of grated ginger and sugar that you leave on the counter to ferment.  You feed the bug, and take part of it to start your batches with.

[silverseeds]

You can make ginger beer without a culture.  It gets all the bacteria it needs from the air.  I've got a recipe I'm looking forward to trying after we get settled in to the new house.  It involves making a "bug" of grated ginger and sugar that you leave on the counter to ferment.  You feed the bug, and take part of it to start your batches with.

can you post this recipe? that sounds especially interesting.

[Atash Hagmahani]

Assuming that you want it slightly sour, and bubbly, you need both bacteria and yeast.

Wild yeast is easy to harvest; the ginger root probably has some. I've had it ferment really well when I use fresh ginger. Otherwise, use the waxy bloom off of raisins. Trick is to get benevolent bacteria, and only benevolent bacteria.

[Lady Lilya]

I figured that before I go type up the whole recipe out of the Wild Fermentations book, I'd google.  Voila!
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/recipe-ginger-beer/

This is a great book.  Wild Fermentations by Katz.  Most of the recipes don't require any starter culture.  The idea is to set up the conditions that are hospitable to the desired bacteria or yeast, and let it move in. 

[silverseeds]

I figured that before I go type up the whole recipe out of the Wild Fermentations book, I'd google.  Voila!
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/recipe-ginger-beer/

This is a great book.  Wild Fermentations by Katz.  Most of the recipes don't require any starter culture.  The idea is to set up the conditions that are hospitable to the desired bacteria or yeast, and let it move in. 

thanks!!!!

[The Future]

So I take it that scooby is not a dog...

[Atash Hagmahani]

So I take it that scooby is not a dog...

Welcome back. SCOBY = "Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast"

Water Kefir and Kombucha are both made by SCOBYs. They're gelatinous, discrete blobs you can cultivate and share with friends. Water kefir SCOBYs will sometimes (usually) revive after being dehydrated for easy transportation, including overseas. We don't know if that works for Kombucha SCOBYs and suspect not.

Ginger beer comes from a sloppy, indiscrete mass; it's not a neat, tidy thing like the other two. Sort of like a jellyfish that has been beached too long--but not even quite that intact.