wow, thanks emily, i forgot about this thread! also you reminded me to investigate two jars of gundru on my counter from june. the radish greens smelled absolutely putrid. but the cilantro/spinach jar had a really odd unfamiliar flavor, interesting, will continue to experiment with eating it. i think you can take the next step and dry it to flavor soups and whatnot. maybe i’ll try that this time.
kefir–weird, intriguing, tasty milk-beer turned into a high maintenance pet with a proclivity for expensive and sometimes difficult to procure raw milk and soon wore out its welcome with me despite outrageous health benefits. i think i ate 'em.
my two cents on kombucha? i don’t fear the mystery fungi some warn about, EVERYTHING i ferment is a mystery culture, a way of intertwining my body further with the communities of tiny critters that haunt my local air–my microbioregion! i strongly suspect that the acetobacter (acetic-acid making bacteria–vinegar!) dominates the whole community if you leave it long enough (which i tend to do). yes, if you buy a bottle of the unpasteurized kind and leave it out, you’ll get a scoby. works best in a wider-mouthed container for max air exposure. i recently discovered a scoby that looks just like my kombucha mothers in a nearly empty bottle (capped) of raw apple cider vinegar. things that make ya go hmmmm. . .
about the brassica goitrogen thing, i read of some controversy recently on another list about whether fermenting neutralizes it. i think the “final” word from the sally fallon camp said the goitrogen survives fermentation. so, eat other stuff too! moderation.