Of course, moss propogates itself by means of spores. I am not sure about the moss/yogurt scheme because I have never tried it, but it is undoubtedly the method most well-favored and highly publicized in gardening magazines and newspapers. This I suspect has less to do with its effectiveness and more to do with its novelty (it sounds good and makes a good story), but I could be wrong. I don't know what the biological explanation is for mosses growing back from little dried up fragments. A single patch of moss can consist of thousands, or millions of individual plants, each with its own stems and leaves. Some mosses are equipped to regrow from broken, even highly dessicated fragments because they have adapted to being pulverized by ice and enduring the predations of animals that eat them, and use them to build nests, etc. It makes sense as an adaptive strategy that moss be able to regrow from fragments. This is what the blender/yogurt method attempts to exploit. Where are you trying to grow the moss? Depending on what kind of climate you live in, if you're trying to get moss to establish itself on grassless earth, you can prepare the ground by raking it and keeping it free of grass, weeds, leaves, twigs, and debris, and acidiphy the soil with Rhododendron fertilizer, or milk powder to a reading of pH 5.5. This should make the ground an inviting place for spores to settle, and moss to grow and thrive. Otherwise, moss spores can be purchased for bonsai pots, etc. If you are interested in moss cultivation for bonsai, see the link below - it should prove useful. Will Heath, the author of the article linked below, has a recipe for growing small patches of moss that can then be installed in bonsai pots. Otherwise, there are methods for growing moss from little moss sods taken from locally growing mosses. Here is a link that might be useful: moss basics - bonsai

laceyvail - In the method I posted above, the buttermilk added to milk, cultures the milk to make a nice thick and tangy "buttermilk". The difference between the homemade buttermilk and your cottage cheese is the heat used to make them. The culture/starter (the buttermilk) starts the souring process. Lactose is converted to lactic acid. There are enough active milk-souring bacteria which prevent the development of "bad" bacteria - those bacteria that cause milk to putrify. By culturing milk with buttermilk, you end up with the flavor of buttermilk, as well as acidity. The homemade buttermilk is only incubated at a low temperature (80°F in the recipe I follow) while making the same ingredients into cottage cheese it requires heat which causes the curds to separate from the whey. Here's another soured milk product from "Natural Meals in Minutes": BUTTERMILK CHEESE 1 qt. homemade buttermilk (see recipe above in previous post) 1-1/2 c. dry milk powder (NON-instant) [Grainlady note: if you do use Instant Non-fat dry milk, pulvarize the powder in a blender until it's a fine powder, THEN measure 1-1/2 c.] Blend buttermilk and powder together and pour into a hot, heavy sauce pan coated with a lecithin spray (PAM). Cook and stir over medium heat until milk begins to curdle. Let rest 5 minutes. If liquid is clear, pour curds into colander and drain off whey. If liquid is still milky, continue heating until liquid turns clear. Rinse in very warm, then cool water, salt and refrigerate. Note: Plain buttermilk without the added milk powder makes TINY curds and very small yield. Makes 1-1/2 cups. -Grainlady

Sounds wonderful (and like a lot of work!) I'd love to see a picture of them and to hear how they came out.

I make a creamy tomato bisque and simmer it with cream or milk and have never had a problem with it curdling. I also don't like to use the stick blender because I don't want a smooth texture. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Creamy Tomato Bisque ==================== 1/4 cup of butter 1 chopped shallot 2 stalks of celery chopped 3 to 4 tablespoons flour 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, cracked Fresh chopped or canned tomatoes coarsely chopped Chicken broth Cream or milk Bay leaf Salt and pepper Optional: Dill, chives or Basil . Melt butter over medium heat. Add chopped shallots and celery and saute for a few minutes to slightly soften. Add the flour and cook stirring for a couple of minutes. Add chicken broth, cream (or milk), the tomatoes, garlic cloves, bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes or so. Adjust seasoning to suit your own taste by adding fresh dill, chives or fresh basil.