There has to be evidence of their process for me to accept it as evidence of understanding/ability. I have made it clear to them that this is necessary. Their job is to convince me that they know what they’re doing. (But… I’m teaching HS Mathematics). So … I’d mark it wrong/incomplete. I’m also working on student understanding of consequences of their actions, so wouldn’t give them another opportunity on that exam. They would need to improve things on the next exam.

This is where fractal/fractional dimensions become useful. Living on the surface of the earth puts us in a dimension between 2 and 3, and varies depending on the environment you’re living in.

Huh. I thought I had linked to a generic recipe. Here’s what I used. The herbs are important for its distinct flavour. Also, I tend not to specifically measure my veg or herbs:

Eggplants (roasted, with the flesh scooped out. This I find unique as it’s the only place I’ve ever cooked a veg before pickling.) cauliflower carrots tarragon dill parsley mint savory garlic chili peppers Nigella seeds turmeric 2% salt and ferment about a week or so.

I followed Sandor Katz’s approach (start a ginger bug with a cup of water, a tablespoon of sugar, and some grated ginger). It usually takes me a day to get that bubbling away. My recipes are fairly general: ~10-12% sugar solution, with enough roselle (or ginger, or ginger/turmeric, or mint/lemon) to give sufficient flavour. Ginger I usually boil with the water to extract more flavour. Mint and roselle I just steep in the water after bringing it to a boil. I almost always add some lemon, as that always makes it taste better. I rarely measure these amounts (apart from the water & sugar), but tend to go heavy on ginger if I’m using that.

Once I got my hands on some water kefir/tibicos I didn’t use ginger bugs anymore (though I have since killed off my tibicos). They are faster and more stable, but rather voracious. I ended up starving them off, though the acid they created probably was a big part of that as well.

I’m using the wild yeast from the ginger/turmeric. It only takes a day or so to get the “ginger bug” going, and I’ve never had any issues. Ginger is all local and unprocessed (I’m washing dirt off it), so maybe that makes a difference?