Kombucha

I was visiting with relatives recently and the conversation turned to Kombucha.  My nephew and his wife make it regularly and drink it daily. I had never heard of it. I was interested in giving it a try and planned to look it up as soon as I got back home. The day after I returned, I received a newsletter from the food co-op I belong to, The Granary Food Co-op in Ortonville, MN. They announced they were having a class on making Kombucha.

I talked about this class with members of my knitting group that afternoon.  One member said she had been making and drinking Kombucha for several months and could even supply me with my own SCOBY! She also gave me detailed instructions on making it. A day later, I started my first batch.

This is my first jug of brew! You can see the SCOBY floating at the top. It is not unusual for it to float, lay sideways, or move around the jar. The jug is covered with a flour sack dish towel and sealed with a rubber band. You want the mixture to breath, but you must protect it from dirt, bugs, and other contaminants.

Kombucha is a mixture of black tea, sugar and water that is fermented using a SCOBY instead of yeast. A SCOBY (an acronym for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) is what causes the mixture to ferment. It is very much like the 'mother' used to ferment vinegar. Other kinds tea can be added for flavor, but you have to add the black tea. I use a decaf tea. Also, you need to add a cup of sugar. This is non-negotiable. It has to be sugar, not Splenda, Stevia, or any other substitute.  Good quality water and the SCOBY are the only other ingredients necessary. You can add fruit, juice, ginger, or other things for taste as you become more familiar with the beverage.

Kombucha is rich in probiotics. There are numerous other health claims about it, but few have actually been proven. It is generally thought of as a healthy drink. (There are some websites listed below for more information). There is a very small amount of alcohol in the finished product, but very little. However, if you are sensitive to alcohol you should probably avoid Kombucha.

This is my SCOBY after making two batches of Kombucha. It is ready to split the baby off the mother. (Remove the bottom layer from the top).

After removing the SCOBY from the jar, I strained the liquid into a gallon plastic jar. I put the cover on and let it sit a day or so on the counter until the container was obviously "bloated". That adds some 'fizz' to the finished product. I then chill it and keep it in the fridge and enjoy until it is gone. By then I hopefully have another batch ready! I was amazed at how good it tastes! I had no idea what I was in for, but I am hooked.

Here are a few good links with brewing information, health information, etc.
    http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-173858
    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-kombucha
    http://wellnessmama.com/8638/continuous-brew-kombucha/

I hope you will try this and enjoy it as much as I do! It looks a bit odd, smells a bit odd, but is delicious!

What's Up Wednesday...

It has been a while since I have posted anything.
I thought I would catch up. We went camping over the July 4th weekend. We visited family up near Bemidji, MN. Carolyn, my sister-in-law,  and I always take to the back roads and woods to see what's going on. These Lady Slippers were found in a ditch north of Bemidji, MN. There were hundreds of them!

We also found several meadows that were full of Yarrow, Birds Foot Treefoil and pink clover.
I took some video sweeps of the meadows. They were amazing to see.

Carolyn is also a gardener. She has an herb garden with a large amount of Comfrey, which she offered me a piece of, as well as leaves and stems to dye with. She also has some beautiful Hyssop that was in full bloom.




My nephew, John, and his wife Katy were there with their new baby, James. Here he is in a sweater I designed and knit from some hand spun alpaca/wool blend.

John and Katy live and teach school in a small village in Alaska. John brought me a box of moose antler to play with. I see buttons and who knows what else in that box!!!

On the home front, I have been busy spinning. I have several new yarns including the black alpaca spun with colored mohair locks. There is only a small amount, but it will work well with plain black to set it off.








I have also been blending dyed wool on the drum carder and creating some beautiful blended yarns. This latest is a base of walnut hull dyed wool with bits of other colors blended in. The neighbor boy, Nathan who is eight years old helped blend the
colors.


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Dyeing with Grass

One of the joys of summer is riding around on the lawnmower, smelling the newly cut grass.  Like spinning, it requires just enough of my mind to help focus without having to dwell on what I am  doing. Sort of meditative... My thoughts wander; I get sidetracked watching something happening in nature that I might miss if I was moving faster. Sun, warmth, vibrant colors, pleasant smells, all making for a good (if noisy, unfortunately) and necessary commune with nature.

This year, things are a little different. My mowers are all broken so, the neighbor has agreed to mow until they are repaired. I was sitting on the patio visiting with his two young children, watching the mowing progress when Nathan and Brittany spied the old wheel barrow and decided to pick up the cut grass. I was thinking it could go into the compost when I noticed a dye pot drying in the patio...

I had the kids fill the pot about 2/3 full of the fresh grass clippings. I then covered the grata with water and soaked it overnight. The next day I boiled it for a few hours, adding water as needed. I steeped it over night and strained it off the next day. I was hoping for something like the color of grass stains. I heated the pot again the next morning and checked the color as it 'cooked'. I was getting a sort of khaki green that kept darkening. Finally, I decided it was ready so I cooled the pot and strained off the liquid.

The wool that I added was spun into two ply and mordanted with alum. I added a cup of vinegar to the dye bath, hoping to brighten the color a bit. I simmered the wool for about an hour, till the color was deep enough. I then let it steep to cool and drained and washed the wool.

The color that resulted was not green at all! It was a very beautiful. Clear, yellow-gold. I am very pleased with the results.

Here is a picture showing the difference between the yellows. L to R: dandelion, rhubarb, leafy spurge, grass.

Rhubarb With a Twist of Vinegar

Last year I posted about how wonderful rhubarb is for dyeing. Not only does it not require pre-mordanting the wool (the leaves contain oxalic acid which is itself a mordant), but it is easy to work with, fun to eat and makes a great tea!

Last year I boiled leaves and some stems and got this:

 

I made a lovely scarf! (See posts from 6-5-13 and 6-20-13).

This year I did things slightly differently and got quite different results. I started with about 40 sticks of rhubarb. I cut off the root ends (I didn't dig the roots) and leaf ends of the stems. I used these for tea and baking. I put the ends and leaves in water. I tore the leaves up before adding them. I covered these with water and boiled them for a little more than an hour. I steeped them over night and boiled them again the next morning and let them sit in the pot. The next day (day three) I strained off the liquid. I soaked 600 yards of freshly spun wool yarn in water for about half an hour and then added it to the dye pot. I simmered that for an hour and a half and turned off the heat and steeped it over night.  The next morning (day four) I added about a half a cup of vinegar to the pot. I let this sit again over night and then removed the yarn on day five. I washed it in wool wash and rinsed it until clear. Instead of the lovely off white tan from last year, I got something much more yellows-green!

Here is a photo showing both:

Another Run at Leafy Spurge

I had such wonderful results with leafy spurge last year that I decided to try it again this year. Here in West Central Minnesota, leafy spurge can be found in ditches. It is best to get away from farm fields because farmers have worked to obliterate this weed. It is considered a noxious weed here due to its ability to thrive and spread. It can still be found growing in clumps in grasses along the roadside. Leafy spurge come into flower just as the first flush of dandelions is going to seed.

This year I picked the whole plant. I then chopped the stalks into five inch pieces. I covered this with water in a large kettle. I boiled this for an hour and then shut the heat off and left it on the stove over night. The next morning I boiled the pot again for an hour and shut off the heat. This time I cooled the pot until it was very cool and the strained off the liquid. I pre-mordanted the wool yarn in alum. I then added it to the leafy spurge bath. I brought this to a good simmer for an hour and then let it steep until it was cool. I washed the newly-dyed yarn is wool wash and rinsed it until clear. Below are the stunning results.