Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Kombucha baby

I don't know why Lisbeth has called this creature 'Mr' Kombucha. It is a living creature but, as some sort of fungusy, mushroomy thing, it is surely genderless? However, it was called Mr Kombucha back in March last year, just before Lisbeth wrote a poem about him, and the name has stuck.

Kombucha's do have babies. They are created under the parent and are usually found when the the liquid that they live in is changed for a fresh brew. I hate to say this, but Lisbeth has been somewhat remiss in changing the brew, recently. Ideally, it is done every 6-10 days. Unfortunately, while she's had visitors, she has left him for more than the 10 days. (Quite a lot more, actually!)

A couple of days ago, she finally got round to renewing the brew and was surprised to find how heavy her Kombucha had become; quite a lot heavier, in fact. On further inspection, it became evident that the increase in weight was not only due to the fact that it had produced a baby, but that the baby had grown to the same size as the parent: some 7 inches across!

Feeling bad about this, she has advertised the baby on one of the 'English in France' sites, on the web. In the meantime, this giant Kombucha baby is being kept in the fridge, where they can be kept dormant for a while. I think! I hope!

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