I like to have cultured foods in my kitchen as often as possible, so I usually have a gallon or two of my home made sauerkraut and kim chee fermenting in the fridge. Kombucha has also been a lot of fun to make at home, but one of my favorite things to culture at home is coconuts.
When the whim strikes I head to the Asian market and pick up a couple of cases of young Thai coconuts, bring them home and open them. To see how to open a coconut at home, watch this video.
When you open your coconuts (you may want to start with just one case), pour off the water into jars or a large bowl. I like to have both fresh coconut water and kefir in the fridge at the same time, so I pour a quart or two of water into a jar and put it in the fridge. Scoop out the meat with a spoon and set that aside in a bowl of its own.
Cultured Coconut Water
To culture the rest of the coconut water pour it into a blender and add a wide-spectrum pro-biotic capsule. I use one called Ultimate Flora.
You will want to blend the water until the temperature reaches 100F. I pour the warmed coconut into 1/2 gallon jars and leave them on the counter at least overnight, but usually for a day or two, and then put them into the fridge.
Cultured Coconut Cream
Put the coconut meat into the blender, add a cup of the warmed water and blend until smooth. Scoop the coconut cream into a jar and leave out overnight, or for a day or two.
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Shawn, I have not yet worked with authentic kefir grains with coconut. Regarding your kefir vegetables experiment, I would love to hear how that goes for you.