Our Water Kefir Grains
Our water kefir grains never fail to fascinate us. They are so complex and full of life, it's like
watching a mysterious live lava lamp every day. We are always combining grains and changing
their diet through the seasons to create the 'best' mix possible. By 'best', we mean that the grains
are not too over or under-active, grow at a nice rate, adjust well to changes in ingredients and
produce a balanced kefir.
It's important to be able to rely on your grains to produce a good kefir, especially when most of us
these days are seeking out kefir for its health benefits. Water kefir grains can change on a dime
due to temperature, weather, or their own mysterious whim (they never tell us why). But they tend
to always come back to a happy, balanced colony in a short period of time. Water kefir grains are
more tricky than milk because just when you think you understand them, they have a propensity to
change. For this reason, we are always experimenting, tweaking and giving them a diet full of
variety to make a great kefir grain colony for us to drink from, and you to adopt from.
Our grains are fed many various nutrients (they prefer a diverse diet). Their meals include
high-mineral water, blackstrap molasses, whole cane sugar, white sugar, baking soda, calcium
carbonate, lemons, and various organic dried fruits (they adore their apricots, dates and coconut)
and even carrot and fresh or dried ginger.
Our grains are fed according to their needs, which is somewhere between 24-72 hours, usually
being about 48. We handle them gently (they are living, and part of our family, besides!) and we
only use wood, food-grade plastic and stainless steel (and canning jars just like you see in our
supplies, as their little homes).
When any of our grains seem out of balance, they are given a monitored diet change until they are
back up to speed. They then re-join the larger colony when balanced and ready, or are tossed to
our dogs or garden to reincarnate as veggies or fruit!
At our home, our cultures are given our constant time and care. We like to think of them as part of
that requires time, nourishment and care. We lovingly refer to our cultures as 'The Greeshka', after
a story from one of our favorite authors, where a strange collective entity of creatures join together
to be better as a group (how fitting for these little symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast!).
that requires time, nourishment and care. We lovingly refer to our cultures as 'The Greeshka', after
a story from one of our favorite authors, where a strange collective entity of creatures join together
to be better as a group (how fitting for these little symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast!).
Why is there a cost for your cultures? You may ask, why do we charge for our cultures - isn't it a
tradition to share and give these cultures away? While we would love to be able to offer all of them
for free to everyone, we like to compare it to an 'adoption fee'. Putting a cost to the cultures covers
the time and care we put into them daily, enables us to afford the best ingredients to ensure the
best cultures (raw milk, whole cane sugar, organic tea, fresh home-ground flours). It also aids us
in our on-going research and ability to share what we find with you here on this site. It also enables
people from all around the world the opportunity to try these cultures, and encourages those who
invest in a culture to take the time and effort to care for their cultures. We also enjoy sharing our
cultures locally, giving away our cultures to our family, friends, and neighbors whenever we can.
We'd like to leave you with one last note that we hope you'll be comforted to know that whatever
you may spend or donate here goes right back towards our land, our animals, our garden and
ultimately our cultures, time, research and ability to give you our very best. You can observe more of
who and what you are supporting in our Photo Album. We truly believe what goes around comes
around. Just as in culturing, however much we share with others is what can be shared back, and
then some.
tradition to share and give these cultures away? While we would love to be able to offer all of them
for free to everyone, we like to compare it to an 'adoption fee'. Putting a cost to the cultures covers
the time and care we put into them daily, enables us to afford the best ingredients to ensure the
best cultures (raw milk, whole cane sugar, organic tea, fresh home-ground flours). It also aids us
in our on-going research and ability to share what we find with you here on this site. It also enables
people from all around the world the opportunity to try these cultures, and encourages those who
invest in a culture to take the time and effort to care for their cultures. We also enjoy sharing our
cultures locally, giving away our cultures to our family, friends, and neighbors whenever we can.
We'd like to leave you with one last note that we hope you'll be comforted to know that whatever
you may spend or donate here goes right back towards our land, our animals, our garden and
ultimately our cultures, time, research and ability to give you our very best. You can observe more of
who and what you are supporting in our Photo Album. We truly believe what goes around comes
around. Just as in culturing, however much we share with others is what can be shared back, and
then some.
You can read a little more on all our cultures in general in our
'Meet Our Cultures' page.
To adopt some of our water kefir grains, visit our Water Kefir
Grains and Supplies page.
'Meet Our Cultures' page.
To adopt some of our water kefir grains, visit our Water Kefir
Grains and Supplies page.
If you've already received grains from us, check out our map to see where their relatives reside!
Copyright © 2010 Yemoos Nourishing Cultures. All rights reserved.
