Call (Me) the Chicken Midwife.

Here are the chicks the day after they all were hatched - nice and warm and dry in the brooder.

I'm happy to announce the arrival of 16 healthy happy chicks!  The one bantam cochin egg hatched a day early (which is not unusual for bantams) so s/he was all alone for a while.  Of course the first born needed a name - and "Primo" (or "Prima") was the first thing that occurred to me (you'll understand this if you speak Italian or have ever seen the movie Big Night - which, if you haven't, you simply must).  However, this little one soon earned another name:  Sarge - because for the next day and a half after hatching, s/he was busy running from egg to egg cheeping loudly and even pecking on the egg shells of the others telling them to hurry up and get out here!

It was a wonderful experience for both my 5 year old son and me.  All day long, I kept walking back and forth to the incubator and looking in the window and snapping photos and videos.  Here is a video of Sarge just after s/he was born.  Please excuse my nerdy commentary.

 

14 chicks hatched on the predicted day (day 21 of the incubation period).

Day 21 was when most of the action happened.  Here one of the cream crested legbars is hatching out of the pretty blue egg shell.  Sarge is surveying the recruits right in the center.

When I woke up on the 26th day of incubation, 15 eggs had hatched and my only viable Maran egg had pipped.  It took this little guy (or girl) a while - but s/he did it!  It was exhausting to watch - and I can only imagine how the chick felt after fighting that shell!

Here is the last chick to hatch.  S/he is a Maran - and after s/he dried off and fluffed up, was a pretty light charcoal color with a lighter underbelly.  This breed of chicken produces dark shelled eggs like the one s/he just hatched from.  So gorgeous!

So, my final count is 1 bantam Cochin, 1 Maran, 2 Brabanters, 9-10 (?) crested cream Legbars, and 2-3 (?) Welbars.  (the question marks are there because somehow, despite trying to keep accurate records, things just didn't add up - and apparently the Legbars and Welbars are somewhat similar looking as chicks - so I'll have to wait and see who grows into which breed!

Surprisingly, the crested cream Legbars had best hatch rate - I started 14 of those eggs because they came from my flock - and some were almost 2 weeks old!

The Brabanters had the lowest hatch rate.  5 of these eggs didn't develop at all - so I suspect that they weren't fertile.  Of the 7 that showed signs of development, only 2 hatched.  It was certainly a disappointment, but if the odds are with me, I will have one pullet and one cockerel - so someday I can hatch more from my own flock.  These were also the most expensive of the hatching eggs I purchased at $20/dozen.

I purchased the 6 Welbar and 2 Maran hatching eggs from another breeder and he told me that he typically only achieves a 50% hatch rate - so I wasn't too surprised by my outcome of 2 (or 3?) Welbars and 1 Maran hatching.

Overall, this was a fun and rewarding experience.  I would definitely do it again - but would probably invest in an automatic egg turner.

Here are my little ones in there big brooder (which will have a netting top as soon as they are able to jump/fly out).

You may have noticed that there are more than 16 chicks in the brooder picture above... lets just refer to this as chicken math - and the fact that a mail order breeder of bantam Cochins had a big sale on one of my favorite breeds...

Tomorrow is Lock Down Day!

When I started this incubation process 17 days ago, I was feeling pretty uneasy and nervous about the very real possibility of making novice mistakes and losing chicks. The first week was pretty intense - constantly watching the temperature and being sure to turn the eggs on schedule.  After I made it past that point, something changed and I started to feel more confident.  I don't know if it was just getting into the groove or actually seeing the baby chicks develop each time I candled - but something clicked.  The last 10 days have flown by - and tomorrow is lock down day already. 

Before the actual lock down, I will go through the following steps:

1.  Carefully remove all of the eggs to a safe spot lined with a soft fluffy towel.
2.  Add water to the chambers to bring the humidity level up (ideally to 65-70%)
3.  Line the wire floor with non-slip shelf liner.
4.  Candle the eggs one more time to remove any that are clearly not developing.
5.  Put all the good eggs back in and close the incubator. 

Because my incubator is in a very bright room, I will candle the eggs tonight after dark - so I can more easily see what is going on inside.  After this, I can just keep an eye on my temperature and humidity levels AND watch for signs of pipping through the incubator windows. (I am so excited for these little babies to arrive!)  I will also be busy getting my brooder ready for them to move to 24-48 hours after hatch.

I carefully removed the eggs to a safe area. On the right side of this picture, you can just barely see my pitcher of very warm water, it should be at least 100 degrees so that the temperature in the incubator doesn't drop too much.

Under the wire floor, is the plastic humidity chambers.  I filled these with very warm water.

The non-slip shelf liner waiting to be installed.

Now my chicks will have a safe, non-slip floor to walk on.  Without this, the wire floor would be quite difficult for the newborn chicks to walk around on - making them more susceptible to splay leg.

All my eggs are back in ready for lock down.  The four eggs below the wooden chopstick are my the ones I am most unsure of in terms of development/viability.  I will candle tonight, and if still unsure, will try another process called water candling.

It should be noted, that my incubator does not have an automatic egg turner - and I have been hand turning the eggs at least 3 and up to 5 times daily.  If my incubator had an automatic egg turner, I would remove it for lock down.

I'll do my best to keep you posted on the progress of my peeps.  Thus far this has been a great experience and I hope to add some more members to my feathered family very soon.  Wish me luck!

Incubation Status from day 7

I'm now up to day 8 of the (approximately) 21 days incubating my chicken eggs.  So far it's been a little bit of a worrisome experience for me.  Because these are (potentially) living beings, I take it very seriously.  I don't want to make any dumb mistakes.

I started with 37 eggs and expectations of about a 50% hatch rate (if I'm lucky).  Last evening (after dark) I candled all of the eggs at the last turning of the day before going to bed.  I tried to take some photos to show what I saw and I think they came out fairly good considering they were taken with my smart phone.

I turn the eggs 3-5 times per day to keep the developing embryos from becoming attached to the outer membranes and the eggshell.  This process needs to be done quickly and delicately so as to not allow the temperature to drop too low for too long and to not accidentally crack or break any eggs.  The developing eggs need to be turned regularly for the first 18 days

Because I am trying to spend as little money as possible on this whole process, I did not invest the extra $45-50 on an automatic egg turner.  This means that there is a lot more hands on time involved for me (every few hours).  If I am successful with this little venture and decide to breed more chickens in the future, I will most likely make the investment.  And speaking of hands on, I am always sure to wash and dry my hands before handling the eggs to remove any oil and bacteria that could contaminate the eggs and cause hatching problems.  It's also nice to have warm hands when handling the warm eggs.

Here is one of the colored eggs being candled.  It's a good one!  I could see the the blood vessels and the dark spot which is the eye of the chick!  As I am a novice, I can not discern the tiny beginnings of a beak, limb buds and tiny digits on the wings and feet that will make toes and wing sections - but according to all my research, by the end of day 7, they are there!

This white egg (a Brabanter) is much easier to see inside of via candling.  Another good one - developing on schedule.  This is truly amazing to see so up close and personal.  My mother in law was here with me and as a retired RN, she was almost as excited as me.  A new life (of any species) is a miracle.

Since I candled the eggs to check on development, I expected to find some eggs that were not fertile (and thus were not developing) and/or some that died after beginning to develop - and I did.

Here is a Brabanter egg that is not fertile.  All I could see was the yolk and no developing blood vessels.

Here is a bantam Cochin egg that, sadly, died early on in development.  The blood ring makes it very clear.

All in all, I had 9 out of 37 eggs that were either infertile or died quite early during development.  Candling is recommended to pick out these eggs so they don't go bad and explode in the incubator.  So, now I am down to 28 eggs.  If by some miracle, all of these eggs survive to become chicks, my hatch rate will be 75%.  That's pretty good.  Since I am new to this, I don't know if, like in humans, once you make it through the first trimester, healthy birth (or in this case, hatching) is more likely.  Obviously I have more to learn.

According to the gentleman from whom I purchased the Welbar and Maran eggs, he averages a 50% hatch rate.  I am doing better than that so far.  (Although seeing through those dark egg shells was quite challenging - so when in doubt, I kept it in the incubator).  I did lose 5 of the 12 Brabanters - and that breeder warned me that those eggs are extremely difficult to hatch in an incubator - so I am not terribly surprised - but I am a little disappointed.

The big surprise to me is that all of the 14 cream crested Leg bar eggs appear to be developing right on schedule.  Those were the eggs from my hens - that were anywhere from a few days to up to 2 weeks old.  These eggs are also the descendants of the rooster that I lost to a fox more than 2 weeks ago.  It's good to know that I can (hopefully) continue to keep this beautiful breed.  I may even be able to get a Kareem Abdul Leg bar, Jr.  ;)

Well here are the final stats as of the end of day 7:

• 28 developing eggs (started with 37)
• 7 cream and/or gold Brabanters (started with 12)
• 4 silver and/or gold Welbars (started with 6)
• 2 copper Marans (started with 2)
• 1 bantam Cochin (started with 2)
• 14 cream crested leg bars (started with 14)

I plan to candle again on day 12 or 14.  I'll report back after I do. 

Until then, keep looking for the everyday miracles all around you.

I NEED more Chickens.

All the eggs just before going into the incubator

It's been a rough spring and summer so far for my chickens.  I believe that it is important for the girls (and boys) to have free ranging time - but unfortunately that sometimes comes at a cost.

We've been at our current location for a little over 2 1/2 years and have had chickens from the very beginning.  We moved into our little farm in the beginning of winter.  Our property is surrounded by farmland and woods and very close to a state park that has over 7,000 acres of wooded land.  With all this beautiful country around us, comes lots of different predators - and chickens are just about on the bottom of the food chain.  Right from the start, we had a coyote take all 6 of my chickens after an ice storm destroyed their run.

After this heartbreaking event, my husband and I were determined to provide a safer and more permanent home for our flock.  We sold our cute little chicken coop that housed up to 6 hens and was on wheels.  Since we moved from 1/2 acre to 12 acres - we could now have more!  We invested in building a BIG coop (at least to me) 8 x 10 ft. with a run of twice that size.  It's super secure with fencing that goes a good foot under the ground.

Despite having this fantastic coop and run, I still feel that my chickens have a better quality of life with some free ranging time each day.  With this free ranging, comes danger.  Well, this year has been the worst - to the point that I actually started to think that the fauna in our area told each other about an all you can eat chicken buffet at Pear of Hearts Farm.  We still have a flock, but it's quite young and are now only getting 1 or 2 eggs a day if we're lucky.  I actually had to buy eggs last week for the first time in probably 4 years... gasp!

So, I decided that I need more chickens and I need them now... or at least pretty soon.  I really didn't want to pay $10-15 (and up) each for young hens that are just about to begin laying - and I also didn't want to mail order chicks (as it's not the correct season in the local feed stores to buy them).  I went to an animal auction with the intent of getting a good deal on some interesting varieties of chickens - but was disappointed with a poor selection of hens and a whole lot of roosters!  (On a side note, there were more adorable bunnies and pigs than I could have imagined... and don't get me started on those goats!  OMG!)

If you know me, you know that when I get an idea in my head, I don't give up easily.  I wanted more chickens, I wanted a nice variety of breeds to get different colored eggs, and I wanted them now.  So what's a girl to do?  Go to the internet, of course!  I searched Google, Facebook, eBay, Craigslist, and Let Go.  On these sites, I was able to find leads to a few different varieties of hatching eggs, a never used incubator at a great price (box was open and it was dusty), and lots of information on how to hatch eggs.  (Of course I also looked to my stack of books on chickens that I have hoarded over the past several years too.)  So here I go!

Because I lost my only standard rooster (a Cream Crested Legbar) just last week to a fox, I knew that the eggs I had and would get for the next week (at least) would be fertile.  So I stock piled my blue Crested Cream Legbar eggs.  I am not terribly hopeful about the hatch rate for them, as the hen laying them is quite young - so I put all I had in the incubator.  I also have one Black Sex Link x Ameraucana hen who is laying, and I'm hoping that she may have hooked up with said rooster before his demise. Thus, into the incubator went a whopping 1 egg from her.  Next, I asked my super nice neighbor if she could spare any bantam Cochin eggs - and she was kind enough to share 2 with me (it's been super hot and those ladies aren't laying much at all).  At the same time, I sent out a request to a chicken group I am a member of on Facebook, and a local member sold me 6 Welbar eggs and 2 Copper Marans.  Finally, I scored a dozen cream and/or gold Brabanter eggs from a breeder about 35 miles away.  So, into the incubator 37 eggs went this morning!

That's A LOT of eggs.  If the impossible happens and all 37 hatch, I will be selling some chicks... ha ha!  But, in reality, I am expecting about 50-85% hatch rate.  Some of the eggs (although kept at a proper temperature) were more than a week old.  At least 1/2 were less than a week old, and the one dozen Brabanters were just laid yesterday.  So, in my typical optimistic (yet realistic) way,  I am prepared for the lower end of that scale.

I know that I haven't been great posting on this blog for the past few months.  When the kiddo is home all summer, things get moved down the priority list - and other things that can't be ignored (yard work, lawn, garden, etc.) get moved up.  Irregardless, I am hoping that this new endeavor of hatching eggs gets me back on track.  I'm planning to update my progress (and setbacks) here.  So stay tuned!

This is a picture of a gold Brabanter chick, it was shared with me by the breeder from whom I purchased the eggs.  She's the Mr. T of chickens!  ("I pity the fool!)  Can you even stand the cuteness?

Here's an adult cream Brabanter hen. Now you see why I waited a week to start incubating all those eggs!

Here's a shot of my crested cream legbars (and the rooster, Kareem Abdul-Legbar, may he RIP)

here's what's buzzing

Since my bees arrived and I hived them, time has flown by.  I meant to post sooner - but it just didn't happen.  They were supposed to come the third week of March - but were delayed.  The good thing is, the hives were all ready for them - and I didn't have to rush to set them up.  My husband helped me get the bee yard ready.  We created a weed free level base with just a touch of tilt forward to keep any water from flooding the bees.  I still plan on adding wood chips or crushed stone on the ground around the hives and (in my ideal plan) a cute little fence around the perimeter. 

My two hives: The Birds and The Bees.

On March 29th the arrived - and I drove up to my supplier's farm and picked them up.  I purchased two 3 pound packages of Italian honeybees with queens.  I know that many people prefer nucs - and I tried one in the past - from the New England area.  They were supposed to have been over-wintered - making them more hardy for my location of south eastern Pennsylvania.  Unfortunately, not only did they cost a good bit more than the southern packages, but they also came much later in the season.  For me, that was, what I believe to be their downfall - as they missed the majority of the pollen and nectar flow.  Despite feeding them, they never really built up enough supplies of honey to make it through their first winter here.  Bummer.

 After hiving the queens and the majority of the bees, I left the packages with the stragglers in front of each hive.

They find their way into their new homes via pheromones.  Amazing stuff.

Well, back to my two new packages.  Because the weather was cooperating with me (at least on that day), I was able to hive them the same day.  However, the temperatures dropped for about a week or so after this and I began to see lots and lots of dead bees all around the hives on the ground.  I became really worried that within only a few days, that I had lost both colonies.  The temperatures were so cool that I really didn't want to risk doing an inspection  - so all I could do was peek in the top cover when replenishing their sugar water.  I saw bees in both hives - but not many.

All I could do for the next few weeks was to keep feeding and hope for the best.  When the weather warmed up enough for a proper inspection, I was relieved to see the workers in both hives drawing comb and both queens laying eggs.  Hurrah!  After all the cold temperatures finally seemed to pass, the rains came.  The rain was my next road block.  It rained and rained and then rained some more.  It wasn't until Mother's Day, that I could get back into the hives to do another inspection.  All that rain wasn't helping the bees get out to forage either.  So, despite mother nature's challenges, I am happy to report that things are looking good... now just keeping my thoughts positive that it stays that way!

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to take better close up pictures when inspecting my hives.  I need another set of hands!  Maybe in a few years this guy can do it!

My beekeeping apprentice.  Love him!

The Birds for the Bees

I finally built, painted and set up my new beehive.  Now all I need is bees.  They are due to arrive later this week - so I'm all set - and feeling hopeful and optimistic that this will be a GREAT year.

This is the beginning of my third year of beekeeping.  In my case, I'm not really sure I should say bee"keeping" - as I have yet to make it through a northeastern winter with the same colony.  Perhaps a better description of my bee yard is a bee hostel.  I give them a home and food (as needed) and, ideally, they share their honey with me. 

Because, in the past, I have only had used equipment - I felt the need to start fresh this year.  Perhaps it will bring me success.  Thankfully, I had some honey to sell to friends - so I was able to invest in some new hive boxes and frames.  I will be starting with two colonies this year - one in the newer of my two used hives and the other in my brand spanking new hive.  Both hives will have all new frames.

I am rather handy - but by no any means a woodworker - so I purchased my hives unassembled from Forest Hill Woodworking in Paradise, PA.  Not only was it a beautiful drive, but I must also say, Forest Hill Woodworking was a pleasure to deal with!   http://foresthillbeesupply.com/ 

Here is a little show and tell of my building and painting process.  I love creating things with my hands (even though I had lots of help with this one).  The process only made me more excited and determined to be successful with my new Italian honeybees.  I like to add a little something to each hive to make it special for me - and I'm pretty happy with my finished product.  I hope the bees like it as much as I do!

The hive kit I purchased included a hive stand, bottom board, entrance reducer, 2 deep boxes, 2 medium supers, an inner cover, and an outer cover - plus frames for each box.

The kit even included the nails.

The "puzzle" pieces waiting to be assembled.

Each corner was glued and nailed together.

1 down, 3 to go!

Assembled and ready to paint!

Painted with Glidden's Forsythia Bloom exterior paint.

Finished off with a beautiful blue bird stencil... hence the birds for the bees!

The Bees Knees

I believe that I mentioned in a past post that I am a beekeeper.  I still consider myself a novice despite the fact that 2016 is the beginning of my third year. I must admit that I am only now beginning to feel a little bit confident in my knowledge and skills.

I began with used equipment, a bunch of books, one beekeeping course, and dreams of all the honey I would harvest from my little army of bees (that would also work wonders in my garden).  I freely admit to being afraid of being stung; which, of course I have been.  It's really not that bad at all - nothing compared to a wasp. That is for certain!  In all honesty, the times I have been stung have been my own fault - by not being fully suited thinking I would be fine just taking a quick peek.  They showed me!

Beekeeping today is not for quitters.  With all the talk of colony collapse disorder, I am fairly certain that most people are aware of how difficult it is to get a colony of bees through the winter in the northern US - and truly, all over the world.  Sadly, I lost both of my colonies this winter.  I actually felt somewhat confident in the fall and early winter that at least one of my two hives would make it - especially in December when I saw them taking cleansing flights on unseasonably mild days.  I had left them plenty of honey and they appeared to be pest free.  Sadly I was wrong.  Two weeks ago, I opened both hives and found a bee ghost town.  There were virtually no signs of the tens of thousands of healthy bees that were there just a few short months ago.

Unfortunately, I am not the only one.  In fact, all of the other local beekeepers I have spoken to (many of whom have been keeping bees for decades) have also had huge losses.  It is becoming a regular process to start fresh every spring.

Despite the heartache of losing my bees, I am not ready to give up beekeeping.  On the contrary, it makes me more determined to succeed.  I truly think beekeeping is THE BEES KNEES.  Just about everything about beekeeping is magical to me.

Thankfully, I was left with close to 50 pounds of glorious honey that will enable me to start over.  I am investing in some brand new equipment and two new packages of bees.  If I didn't have this honey, I'd probably be done - as my husband isn't thrilled with spending a few hundred dollars every year to start over!

Here are some photos of my harvesting and bottling process.  I plan to share assembling, painting, and setting up my new hives in future posts, so keep watching!

Super frame filled with capped honey.

removing the wax capping

uncapped frames in the honey extractor

honey being spun out of the frames in my manual extractor

honey collecting in the bottom of the extractor

flowing from the extractor into the bucket with strainer to remove large pieces of wax

bottling into hive shaped jars

filling muth jars

The finished product: yummy raw and unfiltered honey!

Random Thoughts

I actually made time to sit down and write a blog post and guess what?  I am drawing a blank as to what to write about.  Is my mind full of its typical typhoon of thoughts and chores that I need to do?  Yes.  But for some reason none of the things in there seem to be interesting enough for me to share.  My head is in a February Funk: cold, gray, and muddy.

I have a pile of furniture waiting to be rejuvenated.  I have a garden that needs to be planned.  I have a half a dozen too many roosters that I need to re-home.  I have rooms that need to be repainted.  I have a kitchen remodel that needs to be designed.  I could go on and on, but frankly, it's overwhelming.

So, instead I will write about my random thoughts.  I've been very introspective lately.  Perhaps it's because I've spent my February doing a lot of reading - something I love - but haven't had much time for since becoming a mother.  One post on my son's school's family Facebook group changed that.  A brilliant mom suggested starting a book club and poof! I bought and devoured an excellent book.  It felt indulgent to treat myself to a big fat book when I could should have been doing a thousand other things.

The book was, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  It was delicious.  It reinforced my belief that all of us humans have struggles to bear.  We all have hardships.  Some are much, much worse than others.  Some are obvious and some are invisible.  Some are our own fault and some are completely out of our control.  And despite all of the suffering and pain that life may hand us, there is ALWAYS something beautiful and joyful - be it small and simple or grand.  We just have to look for it.  We humans are incredibly resilient.  Many people go to hell and back - and live life to its fullest despite horrific experiences.

This isn't a book review.  I haven't even mentioned the topic or setting of this book, and I am not going to.  All I will say is that it made me appreciate all the things I have to be thankful for and not take for granted in my little life.  It made me hold my child a little closer, not be so harsh with others when they upset me, be more patient of the person ahead of me in the check out line, and makes me smile at strangers.

We all choose every single day with our thoughts and actions what kind of world we are creating for ourselves (and others around us) to live in.  I am choosing a kinder, gentler, peaceful and loving world.  I will strive to remember and practice this.

Snow Days

Growing up, snow days used to be the BEST.  Then adulthood came along with a job in a hospital and a 30 mile commute... and snow days? Not so fun anymore.  Next, came parenthood - and luckily for me no more job away from home that requires me to get there no matter the weather.  Therefore, snow days are fun again. Right? Ummmmm.... I though so, until this particular storm blizzard.

My job now is taking care of a family made up of 3 humans, a canine, a feline, 25 chickens and a few hives of honeybees.  This work doesn't give me a paycheck and, truth be told, very few "thank yous." Despite this, I am so very thankful to have such a big "family" to love and care for.  A little snow shouldn't be an issue.

The snow is beautiful here.  Looking out any window of my home I see a winter wonderland. Except for yesterday.  Yesterday all I could see was WHITE.  It snowed and snowed and snowed some more.  To top it off, the wind was brutal and created shoulder height snow drifts.  The highest drifts strategically located at all entry/exit ways to our home, including the chicken coop doors!

The view from the front of my house yesterday afternoon.

A drop of advice for anyone building a chicken coop in their yard: keep it closer to the house than you think you should - especially if you live in a cold, snowy region.

The path I shoveled to the chicken coop this morning.

Cheers to 2016

So, this new years eve was very low key for us.  We went out for a nice dinner at a local brew pub and headed home with our darling 5 year old son for a quiet night watching a movie.  I'm a little embarrassed to say that all 3 of us were sound asleep well before midnight. 

Is it sad that this is how we rang in 2016? I don't know.  I was with the ones I love in a safe, warm environment with a full tummy.  That is something I personally am thankful for.  The older I get, the more appreciative I am of the little things in life.  After all, it's all the little things put together that make up our journey here on Earth.

Speaking of little things, I have been home brewing kombucha for close to a year now - and really feel that I've gotten good at it. (Shout out to my friend Erica who gave me my first SCOBY to get started!)  I only brew about a gallon at a time - just for my own consumption; although, I have gotten my husband into drinking it a little bit when I remind him how good it is for him.  I have not really attempted to get my little one drinking it - maybe because I don't think he'll like it - OR - maybe because I don't want to share it just yet! ;)

toasting the new year with homemade pear & cranberry spiced kombucha

Many people are familiar with kombucha, but for those of you who aren't - here is one (of many) views.  I personally enjoy the process of making and flavoring this slightly effervescent drink and feel that is it doing good things for my health and well-being.  I know that there are differences of opinion about this beverage - so I make no claims of what it will do for you.  Interested?  Do your own research.  If you like what you learn, try some bottled from your local health food store or restaurant.  There are several commercial brands - with lots of different flavors.  In the greater Philadelphia area, there is even a local brand on tap in many trendy eateries.  If you try one flavor or brand and it doesn't do it for you, don't give up on it all together - the flavor possibilities are endless!

freshly bottled in the second fermentation to add fantastic flavors

 Much of the fun to me is trying new flavor combinations and the creating occasional goofy names.

 
Truth be told, I was a little nervous the first time I tried making home brewed kombucha.  I even had a small bottle explode in my kitchen! But now that I've gotten the hang of it, I enjoy the process almost as much as I enjoy drinking it.  Admittedly, I find myself craving a glass of it daily.  It's almost as fun as having a glass of champagne. Almost.

Have you tried kombucha?  What do you think of it?  Interested in making your own?  There is a TON of information online.  Have fun exploring!