One day as we sat at the kitchen table talking about things that we would really need or miss if SHTF. We started listing off all kinds of stuff like, modern technology first and then it went to conveniences, cars, ect. When we finally got around to food, one of the things to be missed the most was leavened bread. Not especially store bought bread but real bread, the kind you make yourself at home with your own hands.

  I remember at times the smell of home made bread cooking in the oven would bring the whole family, extended family and friends we considered family to the house. All would come to the table just to eat the warm bread with real butter and honey or wild cherry jelly. The house contained the smell of warm bread and held sounds of laughter and just for that moment in time all the bad things in the world were shut out, the good conversation and the laughter and closeness of family and friends held the world outside at bay just a little bit longer.

  This was able to take place only with the help of a tiny plant with millions of cells we call yeast. I am not going to go into it properties as we all know what it does (makes bread rise).

  My curiosity was how could I get my own yeast if the SHTF.

  I remember my grandma could make sourdough bread in the wink of an eye and I knew she keep what she called her starter on the counter in her crock covered with a clean white cloth. So one day as I sat watching my grandma "feed" her starter I asked why she done that every day. She explained it to me like this "If you dont feed your starter it will die and then you wont have any bread until you make some more and that will take a few days." I said to grandma," How can bread dough die, grandma?"Its not alive!" "Oh, you think not huh." she replied. She then went on to explain about the yeast and what it done and how it made the carbon dioxide gas that makes the bread rise and so on and then she told me that yeast was everywhere in the air. She explained how she was able to put one cup water one cup flour and a teaspoon of sugar in her crock and leave it in a warm place in her kitchen with cheese cloth over it and the yeast would find their way to the crock all by themselves. As a child I thought my grandma was telling me a really good story and I loved listening to her tell me about yeast (about anything really) but I thought she had made it up just to please me.

  Now as adult I understand the importance of learning to gather wild yeast. The yeast in your area will have it's own individual signature, there for your bread will taste like no other, unique to your area. Now you have to remember yeast is a plant, if yeast gets to hot (over 115 degrees), runs out of something to eat (sugar) has no structure to hold in the carbon dioxide (flour) or gets to cold (below freezing) they will die. They like any plant life also need water. Do Not use tap water if your are connected to a city water supply, the chlorine in the water will kill the yeast, use bottled water. The best type of water to use is filtered well water. It is also better to use natural sea salt or salt with no iodine in it.

   In my searches about yeast I found other ways to gather yeast.

  This first way is from my Reader's Digest Back To Basics  book on page 252 of the April 1981 issue.

  You can make your yeast the way old-time homesteaders did. Mix together 1 cup of cooked mashed potatoes, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 cup of warm water (105 to 115 degrees F). Pour mixture into a 1-quart glass jar,cover with a cloth, and leave in a warm place (80 to 85 degrees F) for two days or until it ferments and bubbles up. One cup of this mixture is equivalent to one package of active dry yeast or one cake of compressed yeast. Every time you use a cupful, replenish the starter by stirring in 3/4 cup of flour and 3/4 cup of potato water, water,or milk. Allow to ferment for a day or so and return, covered, to the refrigerator. It is best to use the starter once a week. If you do not, stir it down after three or four weeks, discard half of it and replenish the balance with flour and one of the liquids. 

  I have not personally tried this method as of yet but do plan to do so shortly.

  The following links contain not only information about how to harvest wild yeast but also offer some recipes that sounded good enough to try. 

  Hope this was of some use to those wanting to gather information on harvesting wild yeast. Oh and by the way did you know that Alaska has an abundance of wild yeast but you have to have a license to harvest it. 

Foraging for Wild Yeast

http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/wild-yeast-zmaz80sozraw.as...

How Sourdough Bread Works

http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/sour...

How do I harvest wild yeast?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080719212107AAKKMhq