First, a slug.
I found this slug while weeding on the farm. I dubbed it the Ocelot Slug. Then I fed (the renamed) Sir Slugelot to the chickens.
(I do not know the slug's species. If you do, tell me!)
Now, some kombucha.
I have been "brewing" some kombucha for something like 2 - 3 weeks now (can't remember exactly). It was my first batch and I grew the scoby from scratch, hence why it took so long. I used oolong tea and raw (summer thistle) honey as a sweetener.
It's amazing! So much better than the storebought kombucha I used as a starter.
Kombucha is fermented tea that is made using a thing called a SCOBY which stands for Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. Basically, you put a scoby into sweetened tea and the scoby will eat the sweets and ferment it into a vinegary tea-like drink. Sounds nasty but it tastes great!
So, how do you make kombucha? You either need an established scoby, or you need to grow one from "scratch".
How to grow a scoby and brew some kombucha.
Go to a healthfood store and buy some kombucha. Get a brand that is raw and unfiltered, preferably non flavored as well. If there is "sediment" in the bottom that is good, you want that.
Next, brew yourself a large (1/2 - 1 gallon) batch of (green or black) tea and sweeten it. Use real sugar (or honey) not that shitty artificial crap since the scoby can't eat that. Be generous with the sugar (but not overly generous), there is no set amount but it needs to be enough that the scoby can munch happily away.
After your tea has cooled (It needs to be cooler than something like 98 degrees cause if it's any
warmer the temperature might harm or kill the scoby that will try to
grow.) dump it into a glass (not metal or plastic) jar and leave a bit of room for the starter.
Add the storebought kombucha, including the sediment in the bottom.
Cover the jar with a tightly woven cloth or paper towel. Tie, rubber band, or use a mason lid to hold it in place. You don't want to seal it since it needs air, hence the cloth. But it needs to be covered to avoid contamination or fruit flies.
Put the jar in a warm and dark (not required to be dark but it's better at first) place and leave it alone for a while.
Check on it every now and then but don't disturb it. If you see some sediment collecting in the bottom, that is good! It you see a bizzarre whiteish thing beginning to grow on the top, that is even better! That strange opaqueish white shit is your scoby. The scoby can be anything from milky white to a darkish brown, but opaque white is most common.
(The scoby can be on top, on the bottom, in the middle, etc. The top is the most likely place for it to be, but it can be wherever the fuck it wants to.)
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| Mine scoby |
After a few weeks, your kombucha should be ready. Taste it every few days to be sure it is to your liking. Shorter for sweeter, longer for a more tart vinegaresque taste. Now it's time to bottle it!
Carefully scoop your new baby scoby out of the jar and onto a plate (after thoroughly sanitizing your hands and plate, you don't want to contaminate it!) then pour the kombucha into some bottles or jars.
Leave a little bit of kombucha leftover and cafrefully slide your scoby back into the jar. This will be your starter for the next batch.
Cap the bottles/jars and either refridgerate or store in a cool dark place for 1-3 days so it will carbonate. Fill it as full as possible and store for longer for a more fizzy drink. Be sure to "burp" it every once in a while or the jars may explode from carbonation buildup.
After you have carbonated your kombucha to your liking, store it in the fridge to stop the process.
Time to brew another batch! But instead of using storebought kombucha as a starter, you can put your new scoby in instead and it'll brew up a lot quicker. Once your scoby is mature, you can peel off a layer and make more than one batch at a time, or give one to someone else so they can make their own kombucha.
If you won't be brewing for a while, store your scoby in a warm dark place. Be sure to feed it some sweetened tea every week or so though, you don't want it to die!
Note: Occasionally the scoby can get infected with mold or whatever. If at any time you think it looks off, smells off, or has fuzz growing on it, GET RID OF IT! A moldy scoby or brew is no good and can harm or kill you if you drink it, so err on the side of caution and start anew if your scoby gets sick. (This is why it's a good idea to have more than one scoby.)
Brownish stringy stuff hanging off the bottom of the scoby is fine though, that's the yeast. Don't worry about that even though it looks disgusting.
Here's some dog related content.
Chicken boobs for the Girls, eggs, liver, minced veggies, and goat milk for everybody, turkey neck, gizzard, and heart for the dork.
Chicken legs and pork for the Girls, chicken neck and beef for Conker, eggs, minced veggies, goat milk, and liver for everybody.
One more thing...
My sister (and her friend) and I decided to go out into the woods and shoot some paper, boxes, and cans with an assortment of firearms yesterday. We had a lot of fun.
We took my youngest brother along. It was his first time ever shooting a gun, and he was a pro! The little lefty hit a cherry off a stick at 30 feet (with my scoped .22) which is pretty damned good for a kid who's never shot a gun before!
