My favorite source for the foundation of this community is from the grain itself. Additional wild yeast can be obtained from fruits or their juices, provided that they have not been pasteurized, sulfated of otherwise adulterated. I recommend using organic whenever possible for this reason. It is wise to avoid any antibacterial agents, therefore filtered water or good well water is better than tap water. Cleanliness is your friend here, using simple techniques, such as vinegar water or plain water. Detergents and germicidal agents like chlorine bleach should be kept away from the culture itself.

I begin by sprouting whole grain, usually wheat is easiest, and is the most widely used grain for bread. If you will be making very much rye bread you may want to keep a separate starter. Only about a quarter cup of finished sprouts are needed. The sprouts have many other uses such as making Essene bread, Rejuvalac, or just to add texture to ordinary bread.

To make the sprouts carefully sort and rinse the grain, then let soak for six to eight hours. A glass jar is good container to use. Drain and keep uncovered at room temperature, rinsing twice a day. After two or three days the sprouts will be ready to use, and should taste slightly sweet at this point because of the conversion of starch into simple sugars.

Put some sprouts and about twice as much water in a blender or food processor and make a slurry. Allow this to sit at room temperature a couple of days or until it begins to bubble a little. At this stage it should have a lemony, slightly acid taste. The liquid is also known as Rejuvalac and may be consumed to benefit from the lactobacilli present, much like real yogurt with active cultures.

Add some flour to this mixture, using both the sediment and the liquid. It should be bubbly in a couple of days. At this stage you have the basis for a real working starter. Before trusting it as the sole leavening for bread, I suggest a couple more feeding cycles to get it up to strength. During this time you can use the starter to make pancakes, waffles, other quickbreads, or make bread that also uses yeast as a leavening agent. Remember to save at least a cup of starter to feed and grow.

I tend to make a lot of grainy multi-grain breads. Keeping a starter with a variety of grains in it ensures that the microbes can do a good job of pre-digesting for you. This pre-digesting during a long fermentation is why sourdough is much easier to digest and has the more complex flavors we enjoy. You may want to keep separate starters for specific bread types such as rye, or if you want to make plain white bread. Also, you may want a separate one for quickbreads since the gluten content of the flour used should be lower in order to achieve the best texture.

When in season I sometimes use unpasturized organic apple cider for part of the liquid in the starter, allowing for the cider to get a little head start "working" before I use it. This adds more wild yeast to the mix, increasing the diversity of the community.

Other methods for initializing a starter call for using grapes or other fruit, potatoes, or just "fishing" for the various microbes out of the air. I like the flavor of the sprout based starter better, but find that most of the time it needs a little time and encouragement to get the yeast parts of the community up to speed. Once they are it will give excellent flavor and leavening qualities.

"Feel" is the most important element, and one can get this only from experience. No one can give a sufficient written description. Sometimes you may start out intending to make one thing, and find that it may be easier to turn it into something else during the process. Fear not, doing so will be an invaluable learning experience. Embrace the chaos.

I will post more info over the next few months including recipes from my own invention collection and additional tips on technique. Please feel free to ask any questions, I tried to keep this short but provide just enough information. Also please let me know if you have any special requests such as concerning food allergies, etc. I may be contacted by email at this address: Sacred_Fool@yahoo.com.

The following books are ones I recommend for further info about bread, baking, and sourdough techniques.

"Crust and Crumb" by Peter Reinhart

"Tassajara Bread Book" by Edward Brown

"The Great Scandinavian Baking Book" by Beatrice Ojakangas

"Great Whole Grain Breads" by Beatrice Ojakangas

"Uprisings, The Whole Grain Bakers Book" by the Cooperative Whole Grain Bakers Association

"Amy's Bread" by Amy Scherber and Toy Kim Dupree

Fabulous Full Flavored Food

Zingerman's Bakehouse

Hope you enjoy this humble begining to this page. At least I finally got some more original content up on my site now! Recipes should be among my next postings. Enjoy!