All you REALLY need to make a starter is flour and water - everything after that is just a choice.

Grapes are just another source for yeast (often called "wild" yeast, but they are just plain old yeast that covers everything and is present everywhere), as well as some additional carbohydrates from the fruit itself to feed the yeast. BUT, there are more than enough carbohydrates in flour to feed yeast.

When you look at grapes, you see that silvery/gray sheen on them - that's yeast. Cabbage leaves are also used occasionally in a beginning starter, and you can see the yeast as a slightly gray substance inside the leaves. Onions, the same thing. There are raw potato starters, cooked potato starters, peach leaf starter (once again, the yeast found on the leaves from a peach tree are another source of yeast).... Try all kinds of starters until you find one you like - that's the big adventure. The one I used for many years was called "Everlasting Yeast", and was popular just over 100-years ago.

And while you're at it, be sure to order a free starter from Carl Griffith's Oregon Trail Sourdough. http://carlsfriends.net/source.html

If you would rather not have the care and feeding of a starter (they are called "pets" for a reason ;-), but still make naturally-leavened breads, you can purchase an envelope (the size of a package of yeast) of Lalvain du Jour Starters from King Arthur Flour, and it's enough yeast to make several batches of starter and loaves of bread, and is a good way to experience it, or for the occasional bread baker - without the commitment.

FYI
-You will get more yeast if you use a wholegrain flour in the beginning because there are all kinds of yeast covering the outside of whole grains, but processed bleached and unbleached flour also have yeast present (although not as much since the bran was removed) and will work just fine. The sooner you get a good colony of yeast growing, the faster it will make good bread.

-You will get a starter faster if you use rye flour (for at least a portion of the flour) because it ferments quicker. Spelt flour is great because it's high in carbohydrates. You can change to any kind of flour at any time.

As you can see, "starter" isn't just one thing, one mixture or method. In fact, you can use "old dough" (a bit of dough leftover from making bread) to make a culture, as just one more method.

If you stop to think about it, naturally-leavened breads have been made much longer than those made with modern baker's yeast (dry baker's yeast wasn't available until WWII, and before that they used fresh yeast). In the deep south, pre-air conditioning, they made a lot more quick breads, like biscuits, because of extreme heat and humidity playing havoc with starters. I'm going to assume you have climate control indoors and aren't experiencing 100-degree temperatures with 85% humidity indoors. You will want to keep the sponge between 70-90-degrees F. At cooler temperatures (65-degrees and cooler), the sponge...

Rita, I'm in Central FL too and I have a starter that is 80 to 85 years old. It's isn't really hard to keep the starter, but obviously I've never started one. It was shared by a friend.

Feeding and dividing is easy, peasy. I received instructions from a person on a different site when I first received my starter. No instructions came with it, and I was scared spitless. That was 2003. Now, I'm an old hand at it!

Good luck in your search. I'm willing to share if you would prefer to go in that direction. Just contact me through Gardenweb.

Rita, it doesn't get any easier than these directions from Amy's Bread. You just need spring water and rye flour. You will be making sourdough bread in a week.

Sourdough Starter - Amy's Bread
Source: countrylife.net

RYE STARTER
From AMY'S BREAD, copyrighted.

Amy's bread

This starter is begun with rye flour because rye just LOVES to
ferment and is an easier starter to get going than a wheat
starter. When I first made it, it had a bubble or two within a
couple hours.

The procedure is to start it with rye flour, then transform it by
changing what you feed it. The original rye will dilute to nothing
over time and you'll end up with a white flour (or whatever other
grain you choose, it could be whole wheat or pumpermickel, or you
could leave it as a rye starter) and water based starter, but it
had the advantage of beginning it's life from highly fermentable
rye flour.

Start it with organic rye flour and spring water. Once you have it
going well you can switch to all-purpose white (or other) flour as
you choose. The use of spring water is recommended for
maintenance, however, as tap water may contain elements (such as
chlorine) which may be detrimental to the health of your starter.
I also recommend that you use a container that you can mark the
volume levels of starter each time, so that you will know when it
has doubled. Use a marking pen or tape or any other means to
indicate on the container the starter levels each time you feed.

Phase 1 - Combine 2 oz organic rye flour (room temp) with 4 oz
spring water in a clear container. The batter should be about the
consistency of very thick pancake batter, add more water or flour
if necessary. Cover & let it sit for 36 - 48 hours at 75 - 77
degrees (a little cooler is okay but over 80 you will incubate the
wrong kind of bacteria and your culture will have an unpleasant
bitter taste). You should start to see tiny bubbles forming after
about 24 hours. By the time it has doubled, there will be a
noticeable network of small bubbles throughout the batter & it
will be foaming & bubbling on top. (If the batter has not doubled
within 48 hours, feed with 2 oz water & 2 oz flour (add more of
either if necessary for the consistency) and let it sit another 24
hours or until you see some definite activity.)

Phase 2 - Stir the culture down, notice how soupy it's become. The
batter should have a noticeable sour smell & a mildly tangy taste
at this point. Add 2 oz water & 2 oz flour and stir vigorously
until well-combined. Let it sit for 12 hours. It should be showing
a fair amount of activity at this point. You should see lots of
foaming & bubbling through the sides as well as on the top. Don't
be concerned if the culture deflates & loses volume. This means
the yeast has exhausted its food supply, but it will continue to
increase in acidity. Don't worry if your culture isn't
dramatically active yet. As long as there is some noticeable

It's only flour and water, so if it doesn't work, toss it.

I know, I know, it's food and we all have a really big problem throwing food away, but........................ you can handle it.

Rita,

Because you've gotten some great, in depth advice from experts, I'm going to go the simple newbie route. Mine is only a month old.

1. Make a place to keep your starter where there isn't direct sun, or direct blow from HVAC, and where the temperature doesn't swing wildly. It should also be a place that's easy to clean and doesn't have a lot of clutter around.

2. Equipment: You can do this freehand, but it's easiest with a scale. Also:

• A pint Measuring Cup (easiest for reading volume) or Bowl and another one to transfer to so you can wash the first (glass is best so you can see the side bubbles, and it's easiest to clean--which is an issue. I've had to wash my Pyrex measuring cups several times to get all the flour off.)
• Bowl for scale or measuring cup for volume for the feeding
• Jar or other Vessel for the discard while you're developing the starter
• Big Spoon for dividing the starter
• Whisk or Small Scraper for mixing the starter while feeding
• Flour for feeding
• Water, not chlorinated and not distilled (i.e., spring water works great) for feeding
• Cling Wrap to cover with (it expands and lets go if the starter gasses out)
• Masking Tape or a Pen to mark the level it starts at. Millimeters matter when you're looking for a true doubling

3. If the first try doesn't work, try again. I was determined to use my home milled organic whole wheat flour, and the first two tries went moldy before the yeast could develop. The yeast will force out other organisms, once it's established, but it needs to start first. It's easiest to get it going on hot, dry day (or was for me).

4. If you're milling your own flour, freeze the berries first for at least a day before you mill. That way the heat doesn't kill the organisms. Once you have a starter going, however, contrary to otherwise good practice, it's better to mill the flour well ahead of time and let it get warm, to cut down the competition.

5. While the yeast is killing the unwanted organisms, especially with whole grain, the starter smells foul. It's okay. The smell will go away as it matures. Stay with it.

6. Don't be afraid to veer from the instructions if things seem off. I began during a heatwave and when the weather changed, my starter was having a WTF fit. If it bubbles, it's alive. If it's not rising in the beginning, you might need to wait longer for the yeast to develop, but it could also mean it's hungry. I was vacillating between feeding and not during the first week, and both were correct. If it's not doubling but is reliably rising to the same not quite double height, your gluten might not be strong enough, or you might have too much water, or both. Adjust. If it throws hooch, it's hungry. Feed it. You can pour off or stir in the hooch. Generally, once you have organisms growing, when in doubt feed it.

7. Factor in bedtime and rising time. The starter could want feeding more often than every 12 hours, but it's not a baby, and you...

I'm amazed at the complexity of starting yeast. Obviously, i've never done it. Yet maintaining an established yeast is so easy! I do keep it in the refrigerator and it can set there for 3-4 months, inactive but very much alive. I take it out, and if the liquid on it is dark gray, dump it. Then combine 2 oz of water, 2 oz of flour and 2 oz of starter. Let it set until it bubbles (24 hr is ok). Then add 3 oz of water, 3 oz of flour and the starter. Mix well until it really bubbles (3-4 hr) and it's ready to use. I make sure I have 2 oz of starter to go back into the refrigerator and the process starts again. It's that simple when the starter is mature. My starter's name is Crusty--he's an old crusty guy that makes wonderful bread!

Thanks for all the input, still intimidated, though. I guess it's because there are so many variables on how you can do it. Maybe I'll try the last method, it seems to be pretty simple. I don't know why a bowl of flour and water scares me so much, how dumb.