Lesli, we grow kefir. Everyone around here pronounces it "Keéfer." I say "kefír." (accent over the i) But I really don't know how it's supposed to be pronounced. Perhaps kefirlover can tell us. Anyway I LOVE the stuff! Half our family loves it and half can't stand it. We use goat's milk to make ours. Since the goats are not presently in milk I've frozen our grains. Grains can be rolled in powdered milk and sealed in a ziplock or jar, in the freezer and kept for months. To re-activate one simply puts them in milk and starts straining and replenishing the milk on a daily basis. Within few days they are producing again. One thing we've noticed is that one can get slimy, yucky kefir when changing between forms of milk. There's no problem in going between goat's milk and cows milk. But when one changes between bottled milk and powdered milk, or vice a versa, it may take a few days for the culture to adjust. Until it does we feed the product to our animals. I knew it was good for you. But wow! kefirlover's write up is amazing! I'm going to post another interesting site. This is the one which helped us when we started with Kefir. Our family first learned of kefir when we were living in the Sierra of Puebla, in Mexico, in the 90s. There, the locals produced and consumed kefir. But they called it "bulgaros." We got a start from them and enjoyed it for about a year. But we were due to spend a year back in the USA, and couldn't bring it back with us. It took till 2005 for me to learn what it was called in English! We got a start from someone local I bet, if you join Freecycle, you might find someone who can give you a start. We've given away many starts. George Tahlequah, OK Here is a link that might be useful: Dom's kefir site

Wonderful advice! Last night hubby threw out some stale bread and I was wondering if I should save it. My bin is on the dry side because I added some old potting soil and dry leaves from some dead plants (forgotten in the basement, oops) Those things were really dry! I added a little water but may add some more water or wet foods. I added a little oatmeal and saved the can near the worm bin and will add it a little at a time. I hate to throw it away it was a large plain container of oatmeal for making cookies (that we forgot to make) I am thinking of going to goodwill or another thrift shop and getting an old blender for the foods to get chopped up. The bread could go in too. Thanks for the help!!! Karen

Billylee, the "fruit juice/syrup" you use in your bins... if it is sugary I would think that would not be good for worms, but I have nothing to back up my gut reaction. As for hummersteve's mention of watermelon rinds, - oh, boy, any kind of squash (cooked or raw) or melon (actually any of the cucurbit family, including cucumbers) seems to be my herd's very favorite treat, judging by how quickly it disappears! The netted outer shell of cantaloupe is all that gets left behind in the bin from that fruit, and (thrifty [read:cheap!]) crafter that I am, I use those bits mixed in with my homemade paper for an interesting visual texture! LOL)

I've used all kinds of milk products (powdered whole milk, powdered non-fat dry milk, whey-based milk substitute, raw goat milk, homogenized goat milk, homogenized cow milk, low-fat, 2%, whole....) for making kefir. I've been making kefir for around 7-years. I have some fermenting on my kitchen counter as I type, and made 2-cups of it yesterday. What I find is that the lower the fat, the more whey you get, instead of curd. But whey is good too. I use the whey for making whey lemonade, which is one of the most refreshing drinks when it's hot outside. I'm on the fence when it comes to homogenized and raw milk products - even though I'm a big fan of "Nourishing Traditions". I think getting the beneficial bacteria from kefir outweighs WHAT you make it in. I didn't have a problem with raw goat milk, other than I was afraid I'd contract some horrible bacteria from the family's filthy kitchen than I was about using raw dairy products. The "odd" taste must be what they are feeding the goats. To make kefir easy-to-swallow, which even my picky hubby likes, we use it as a morning smoothie. I use a Hamilton Beach Malt-Maker for mixing. The stainless steel cup for the malt-maker has 3 markings on the side. I put kefir up to the first mark (2/3-cup), 100% fruit juice of choice (grape, orange, pomegranate/blueberry is a favorite....and the strong flavor of it would probably mask any "farm" flavor of the goat milk), to the top mark (about 1-1/3-cup - so a 1:2 ratio (or to taste). We also add flaxmeal and a supplement powder, and give it a whirr... If that doesn't work, how about making water kefir - which takes different kefir grains than dairy kefir? Or fermenting fruit juice with the kefir grains? How about taking the drained kefir cheese and adding strong flavors (spices, onion, horseradish) and making a vegetable dip out of it. Mix kefir cheese with guacamole.... Go to Dom's Kefir Insite for more information. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Fermented Treasures