MerryAnna's DIY LAB Starter

MerryAnna;3597557 said:

How to make your own LAB starter:
1. Wash some rice (any kind). Keep the water, adios the rice.

* i did this late one night, handful of rice, handful of oats, soaked in lukewarm water.​

Note: you don't need that much water to start with, because you're going to add 10 parts milk to every 1 part wash-water.

2. Pour the starchy water into a lidded container. The mix has to be loosely lidded in order to attract wild bacteria from the atmosphere. Also, pressure builds up as the wild bacteria start the fermentation - you DON'T want to clean up the mess when it explodes. The lid is to keep out gnats etc., so you could just fasten some cheese cloth over the top.

* i used an old glass canning jar with an ill-fitting plastic lid.​

3. Stick it somewhere warm and forget about it for 5-7 days.

* mine played outside with my ganja babies for 3 days, then the weather turned, and i stuck it on the fridge.​

4. Open up the container. You should see 3 layers: bottom solids (gunk), sour smelling water in the middle, and some top floating yuck which might include some light mold. You don't want the gunk or the yuck, you want the sour, coloured water. It should smell sour & yeasty. If it doesn't, or if there's black mold, THROW IT OUT, IT'S BAD.

* i strained through a sieve, no small chunks, so that worked for me. You could use a syringe, a turkey baster, a paper coffee filter, whatever is easiest.​

5. In another jar, add 10 parts milk to every 1 part sour water. I.e. : 10ml sour water + (10x 10ml milk= )100ml milk.
DO NOT USE LONG LIFE MILK. Ideally, you would use the milk from the cow/goat you keep out back, but normal, full fat supermarket milk will do. It shouldn't be overworked or overpastuerized. Mebbe organic?

* i used 1/4 cup liquid & 10x 1/4 cup milk. Supermarket milk, fyi. Stuck it in a glass jar with an ill-fitting lid, it's outside in the sun right now.​

6. Wait. It's ready as soon as separation completes, which won't be today.

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MerryAnna;3599552 said:

Update on the LAB:
I had the culture on the fridge last night, and stuck it on the patio this morning. At +/-5pm, this is what i had:

.
The curd and whey are separating nicely. I'm leaving it until complete separation, as the whey (watery bit) is what i'm going to use....
Happy Monday!

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MerryAnna;3604644 said:

Day 17:
The whey & curd have seperated completely. I expected to be overpowered by an unpleasant aroma, but it only smelled very faintly of stinky cheese.

To stabilise the LAB for use & storage, you mix it with brown sugar/ molasses on a 1:1 ratio: 1liter of whey to 1kg of sugar. I had 550ml of liquid, and mixed it with 550g crude sugar. You then pour the mix into a light tight bottle (dark plastic/ glass with a screw top). Do not tighten the cap to much - the LAB will still bubble for 7-10 days, it's advisable to wait until the bubbles have ceased before use. The stable mix can last for up to a year when stored correctly, and it's very, very handy.
*soil feed: 15-30ml /gallon of water
*foliar spray: 15ml /gallon
*compost activator: 30ml in the heap
* making Fermented Plant Juice - add 30ml to the FPJ mix, quicker fermentation and less smelly by FAR.
*Fermented fish & seaweed extract: add 30ml to yucky stinky fish mix to lessen odour.

The LAB is an organic, anaerobic bacteria culture which quickly digests biological waste, so you could even use it to unblock your drains...
If anyone is interested in further reading, here are some links:
DIY LAB culture:
How to Make and Use Your Own Lactobacillus Culture | Dude Grows Show
Fermented Plant Juice /Extract;
Fermented Plant Juice as Organic Fertilizer – Be Healthy And Well
All this relates to Korean Natural Farming, so that's also an interesting read. Happy Thursday.

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