Green Education Center

Kombucha Tea
From: Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz

Timeframe: 7-10 days
Ingredients (for about 1 quarts/1 liter):
1 quart/liter water
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon loose black tea or 2 tea bags
1/2 cup mature acidic kombucha
kombucha mother [SCOBY (Symbiotic Community Of Bacteria & Yeast)]

Process:
Mix water and sugar and bring to a boil in small cooking pot.
Turn off heat; add tea, cover, and steep about 15 minutes.
Strain the tea into a glass container. it’s best to use something wide; kombucha needs adequate surface area and works best if the diameter of the container is greater than the depth of the liquid. allow the tea to cool to body temperature.
add the mature acidic kombucha. when you obtain a culture, it will be stored in this liquid. Save a portion of subsequent batches for this purpose.
Place the kombucha mother in the liquid, with the firm, opaque side up. [The shiny and lighter in color side is the top.]
Cover with a cloth and store in a warm spot, ideally 70° to 85°F.
After a few days to 1 week, depending on the temperature, you will notice a skin forming on the surface of the kombucha [doing as best you can to NOT disturb the newly-forming SCOBY (“skin”)]. Taste the liquid. It will probably still be sweet. The longer it sits, the more acidic it will become.
Once it reaches the acidity you like, start a new batch and store your mature kombuchas in the refrigerator. You now have two mothers [SCOBYs], the original one you started with, and a new one, the skin that formed on your first batch. Use either the new or old mother in your new batch, and pass the other one on to a friend (or the compost). Each generation will give birth to a new mother, and the old mother will thicken.

Note: If you don’t have access to a SCOBY to begin your kombucha, you can also use the liquid from a store-bought bottle. Just brew the tea as described above and add at least half the bottle of store-bought kombucha. You should see a SCOBY forming in a few days.

Chanterelles have a meaty texture, with a mildly peppery taste and smell a little of apricots or peaches when freshly gathered. They grow under not on trees so if you go foraging for chanterelles (and they are well worth the effort) remember this point as they resemble other fungi which are poisonous. This is true of the False Chanterelle (Hygrophropsis arantiaca) which has orange gills and a darker cap than a true chanterelle. Traditionally mushrooms particularly chanterelles have been assumed to be aphrodisiacs, with the 11th century Normans in Britain feeding them to grooms at their wedding feasts. The minerals they contain along with the amino acids and vitamins, probably make them good for the libido, especially for men with erectile dysfunctions.Chanterelles have an affinity with certain trees and particularly birch, beech, oak, and pine in descending order, as they seem to like birch trees best, but they also seem to quite like larch and sweet chestnut trees too. They grow in soil which is damp.Like other mushrooms they contain vitamins A and D as well as some of the B-complex ones. They contain all the essential amino acids and glutamic acid is believed to boost the immune system and may help fight cancer, infections and rheumatoid arthritis. There is evidence that it inhibits blood clotting, which is valuable in the fight against heart disease. As for minerals, they contain potassium which regulates blood pressure and the contractions of the heart muscle; copper, manganese, magnesium, calcium, zinc and selenium which is good for the mood and the brain. They also contain fibre in the form of cellulose, which helps with the disposal of wastes from the body and so helps to prevent constipation and piles.

They are great added to soups and stews and go well with eggs, but can be used to accompany any meat dish. Treat them as you would any other mushroom as far as cooking goes.

Gotu kola stimulates the central nervous system, aids in the elimination of fluids, shrinks tissues, decreasess fatigue and depression and can also stimulate sexual appetite. Gotu kola has also been recommended for rheumatism, blood disease, mental disorder, high blood pressure, a sore throat, tonsillitis, cystitis, venereal disease (hopefully you wont need it for this), insomnia, and to relieve stress.

Gotu Kola can be used in a variety of forms in order to benefit from its healing properties. It can be used as massage oil, a shampoo, a poultice, a tea, and a skin cream. It is often combine with sandalwood and lemon when used in one of the previous forms.

Gotu kola has a balancing effect on all three doshas, which are the bio-energies of Ayurveda, and so the plant can be beneficial to just about anyone. Gotu kola infusions, taken as a beverage, will improve circulation in the legs and can also treat varicose veins. The plant will also act as a soporific in cases of insomnia. When used as a compress, the infusion will relieve psoriasis. To make such an infusion, pour 2 cups of boiling water over 1 teaspoon of the herb and let steep for 10 minutes. Drink up to 2 cups a day, adding lemon or honey to taste if desired. If the results of a compress are disappointing, try strengthening the infusion used.
According to tradition, the natives of Sri Lanka were probably the first people to use gotu kola for its medicinal properties. They noticed that elephants, which are the species of animal that is most renowned for their longevity, loved to eat the rounded gotu kola leaves. Hence the proverb ‘Two leaves a day keeps old age away”

1. It is used as an antiseptic, antiviral and antibiotic.
2. It is used in cough and cold with Kali mirch, Ginger juice and honey.
3. Face pack prepared from the juice of Tulsi and honey clears the oily skin and improves the skin glow.
4. External appliaction of juice of Tulsi, lime Juice eradicates pimples with softness of skin.
5. It is very useful in chronic fever.
6. Keeping a Tulsi plant in the house will prevent all types of insects and mosquitoes, so that Malaria and Dengue etc. can be prevented.

We are happy to be enrolled in Edible Forest Gardens Design Intensive
Advanced Permaculture Design with Eric Toensmeier on May 31- June 5 2013. In this advanced Permaculture class we will learn how to design and plant a food forest. If you want to attend this class or need more information check out this link :

Edible Forest Gardens Design Intensive

Check out this short documentary and tour of the Econ Farm and how to inoculate mulch beds with edible mushrooms. Thanks to Kinesis Films for providing the footage. Our next Permaculture Design Course will be held in October 2013. Click Here for more information on the class. Everything keeps growing on the farm.