Fermenting and Growing in a Devon Flat

I'm in Devon for the winter, so a good time to try more hobbies.

Growing and Fermenting

It started in Portugal. With eating more fermented foods and a garden.

A Mexican friend at a picnic mentioned they made kombucha at home, and gave me a scoby to start my own kombucha. The kombucha made it back with me to Devon, and is still going strong. I've been making some breads using it and might try using leftover scoby to grow edible mushrooms.

Also in Portugal was having a garden in the city for a couple of years. It went from dirt to somewhere I was happy growing a few things, including some herbs, strawberries and beans. Now I want my own garden in Devon, on the waiting list for a plot in Exmouth, and trying to grow a few things in the flat otherwise.

And there have been a few other experiments.

Homebrewed Beer

I got a starter kit and made 30 or so litres of beer. Mostly to go through the process as I don't drink much.

The beer tastes ok, but made me dehydrated (more than a normal beer). So I've been using it in casseroles (ok), bolognese (amazing), banana breads (good) and breads (always good risers!). I don't think I'll brew it again from a starter kit, but will look at options.

Mushrooms

I've had a keener interest in mushrooms since reading Entangled Life by Merlin Shedrake (my mum didn't want it). So as well as some fungi podcasts, books and using it in games, I bought a mushroom kit. It went ok and got some oyster mushrooms from it.

But then I wanted to grow them my own way. So with some mushroom spawn, yoghurt cartons (1 litre) and wet cardboard I've been having a go. It's been slow as the flat is colder over winter, but my first ones are coming through now!

Hoping to do a lot more of this as love eating mushrooms. So versatile!

Water Kefir

I've known about milk kefir for a long time and have kefir yoghurt quite often. Currently not regularly drinking milk or milk substitute, so haven't considered growing it at home.

Then a french couchsurfer mentioned water kefir and I had to give it a try. It grows fast, tastes better than (unflavoured) kombucha and needs less setup. But I think I'm growing too much of it!

Did make a good bread though!

Herbs, Fermented Pineapples and Breads

I've been growing a few herbs and have some more to plant now that spring is on it's way. But more a lack of planting space has been restricting this.

Then I tried fermenting pineapple skins, known as tepache. It went ok, was fairly easy. But I've never consumed before so no idea how successful it was.

Any leftover fermented bits like the beer tepache and kombucha, I've been using to make simple breads, usually just flour, water, a little sugar and baking powder (or quick yeast).

Started off some pickling too, but keep forgetting to do the next batch of vegetables!

More Experiments

Mostly driven by curiosity I've still got more to try.

• Some sourdough
• An indoor herb garden
• More mushrooms (including on brown rice)
• Tempeh
• Milk kefir
• Recipes using all of the fermented things!

Finishing Up

It's been a while since I've done a normal article. Hoping more to follow!