Here’s the latest child to take up residence here, or should I call it another indoor garden? About three weeks ago I ordered some kefir grains and started culturing a glass of kefir in the kitchen window. The grains are a SCOBY, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. They look like rice grains in a porridge.

Every twelve hours or I strain the kefir, running it through a sieve, and collecting the kefir in a bowl. I use a spoon to mash the kefir grains against the sieve until I’ve reduced the grains inside the sieve to about a quarter cup, and have a thick, creamy bowl of kefir below.

The creamy kefir is ready to drink, and I stir the remaining kefir grains into a glass of lukewarm milk to grow and do their thing again.