The Sourdough Project: Week 3 – GN 312 Sourdough Project: Zoe Tyree

Blackberry Background

Blackberries are a widespread fruit that is native to every continent except Africa, Australia, and Antarctica, each with their own indigenous kind of blackberry. Many ancient civilizations have used this fruit as a healing plant. For instance, ancient Greeks used blackberries as a remedy for Gout, Native Americans used it to treat stomach problems, and ancient Romans used the plant to treat various illnesses. These civilizations did not cultivate blackberries but thought of them more like a wild plant. Now we grow and enjoy these fruits around the globe!

Difficulties this Week

This week I ran into quite a few difficulties. I spilled part of the blackberry starter on the morning of 9/9 and encountered a fruit fly problem in my apartment. The fruit flies loved the starters, so I had to be sure none of them got into the starters while I was feeding them. I also was faced with the problem of the starter’s consistency. Both the control and blackberry starters were very runny. To combat this problem I began adding two scoops of flour each time I fed them, instead f just one scoop. I also forgot to take pictures many times this week.

	Control Starter	Blackberry Starter
9/6 1:57 am	Has a layer of liquid and then a layer of a sticky substance on top Smells like bread	Has a layer of liquid and then a layer of a sticky substance on top Smells like paint
9/6 12:43 pm	Has a layer of liquid and then a layer of a sticky substance on top Smells like glue	Has a layer of liquid and then a layer of a sticky substance on top Layer of liquid was larger than usual Smells very chemically
9/7 1:41 am	Has the same layering as yesterday Smells like glue	Has the layering as yesterday Still smells very chemically
9/7 2:42 pm	Layer of liquid has increased in size Smells like bread	Layer of liquid has increased in size Smells like paint
9/8 3:43 am	Layer of liquid is the same size as yesterday Smells like bread	Layer of liquid is the same size as yesterday Smells like paint
9/8 3:59 pm	Layering remains the same Smells like sour cream	Layering remains the same Smells like wine
9/9 2:43 am	Layering remains the same Consistency has remained thin Smells like glue	Layering remains the same Consistency has remained thin Smells like paint Spilled some blackberry while feeding
9/9 2:36 pm	Switched from given flour to Food Lion All-Purpose Flour Layering and consistency remain the same Smells like glue I decided the starter was too thin to I began giving the starters 2 scoops of flour each feeding	Switched from given flour to Food Lion All-Purpose Flour Layering and consistency remain the same Smells like paint I decided the starter was too thin to I began giving the starters 2 scoops of flour each feeding
9/10 2:59 am	Layering remains the same The starter is a bit thicker but is still very thin Smells like glue	Layering remains the same The starter is a bit thicker but is still very thin Smells like paint
9/10 2:08 pm	Layering remains the same Consistency continues to be runny but is getting thicker Smells like bread Fruit flies have begun gathering at the lid	Layering remains the same Consistency continues to be runny but is getting thicker Smells like paint. Has a sweet undertone to it Fruit flies have begun gathering at the lid
9/11 2:48 am	Significant change in consistency but is still batter-like rather than dough-like Fruit flies remain Layering remains the same Smells like bread	Significant change in consistency but is still batter-like rather than dough-like Layering remains the same Fruit flies remain Smells like beer
9/11 3:30 pm	Appears to be a lot taller than previous starters Is thicker than yesterday Fruit flies remain The control starter’s layer of liquid is almost nonexistent Smells like sour cream	Appears to be a lot taller than previous starters Is thicker than yesterday Fruit flies remain The blackberry starter’s layer of liquid is much thinner than it was, previously but is larger than the one in the control starter. Smells like beer

Citations

https://cals.arizona.edu/fps/sites/cals.arizona.edu.fps/files/cotw/blackberry.pdf