New Kefir Grains

My first kefir grains I bought from a lady last fall, September 2004. I was a bit miffed later on to find that most of the time people share their grains, and only charge for shipping costs. But some people charge you a lot more than just shipping. I decided then and there when I have enough grains to share, I will only charge for shipping, and maybe a little bit more for the cost of accepting PayPal.

In November, I tried to share my grains with someone, (let's call her Amy) but it was a big flop. "Amy" asked me to ship the grains by Express Mail to her friend "Judith" because "Judith" was leaving in two days to visit "Amy" (who lives in another country - the idea being the grains would be cheaper to ship, and would get to "Amy" sooner). Well, when the grains arrived, the box was leaking, so "Judith" threw the whole box away. This was upsetting as I had sent a full tablespoon of my grains, leaving only about half a teaspoon left for myself! I also paid $15 something to ship the grains, only to have them thrown away. And I guess it was really stupid of me, but I told "Amy" not to worry about paying for the shipping, since she didn't get anything.

So a couple weeks ago my kefir went "off". There was some white powdery looking stuff on the top, and the kefir smelled bad, cheesy, and like dirty socks. I tried rinsing the grains, and putting in more milk. After a few days, the kefir was turning into gloopy slime. It was so gross that I was unable to consider using it. I was too busy to figure out what to do, so for a few days the kefir just sat in the cupboard, all gloopy and slimy. Finally I asked on a list I'm on what I could do for my kefir grains. I got some answers, and now I'm trying to cure it. The grains are only about 1/4 teaspoon worth now.

I also got anxious for some more kefir. Not that I love the stuff, but I feel it's doing a lot of good for my body, and I want my family to start drinking it, and my mom asked me if I could give her some more. She doesn't drink much kefir. I gave her a cup about 2 months ago, and she just finished using it. I think she takes like a teaspoon a day or something. Hah. I'm up to 1.5 cups a day. So... being anxious for more, and not sure my grains were going to survive, I saw a post on a list I'm on, and the lady was offering a generous amount of grains for $8. I went ahead and went for it. But again, I'm a little miffed because it cost $1.07 or something really cheap like that. I guess I shouldn't begrudge folks making a couple dollars, but then a day later, someone on another list was sharing grains for the cost of shipping. And it's not just them making a couple bucks, but some people think of kefir like a living entity and it's doing so much good for us that it shouldn't be sold, be shared for free. Cost of shipping is fine, but then people tack on quite a bit more.

But looking on the bright side (which I do try to do most of the time!) she sent a LOT of grains, I weighed them, they weighed 32 grams! It is more than 2 tablespoons.

For my other teeny amount of grains, I sterilized the jar, sterilized the water and am soaking them for 24 hours. Just soaking them in a jar with water did not cure them.

I'm a little bit afraid that the new grains will end up with the same fungus. I am hoping it's not that something is wrong with our goat's milk. I tested the milk for mastitis, and no one has any problems with that.

And we chatted with some neighbors today, and I mentioned kefir and the husband has wanted to try kefir. So if I can get these new grains doing their thing, I promised him that I would bring him some kefir, and if he likes it, then I will give him some of the grains. I am planning to try freezing some grains, but also I will give some to the neighbors. I was really happy to hear that, because there are so many grains I would probably be having to make half a gallon a day. He also said I can use the kefir for our baby calves instead of Probios.