Sourdough Day 14: Willy and Nilly Are Alive and Kicking!

Sourdough Day 14, and I am happy to report — Willy and Nilly are alive and kicking! Are they ready to bake with? Not quite yet. But they are bubbling, they are doubling, and they are full of life. And honestly? That is enough for today. Everything I have been reading says that as long as I have bubbles and doubling happening, my starters are still active — they just need more time, more feedings, and a little more patience before they are stable enough to actually bake with. So that is exactly what we are doing. We are discarding, feeding, researching, and refusing to quit.

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Today I discarded both Willy and Nilly down to 50 grams and fed each of them a 1:3:3 ratio — 50 grams of starter, 150 grams of flour, and 150 grams of water. That is the same ratio I used yesterday, and I am going to keep watching them closely to see how they respond.

Willy, my whole wheat starter, had great bubbles this morning and had definitely doubled in size. He is doing everything right — he is just still hungry and not quite stable enough to bake with. Nilly, my all-purpose unbleached starter, is looking a little more liquidy than Willy, which makes total sense since we just switched her flour to regular all-purpose unbleached yesterday. These two are very different from each other already, and I love watching their personalities develop!

Here is something I want all of you to know if you are following along and feeling a little frustrated: this is completely normal. I have been doing a lot of reading, and some sources suggest switching to a 12-hour feeding schedule with a 1:1 ratio during this phase. I might try something different tomorrow — or I might stick with what we are doing. I have not decided yet. But what I do know is that I am not giving up.

If you are just joining the Sourdough Journey, Willy is my whole wheat starter — made specifically because my husband Jason is on a Mediterranean diet and I want to bake him fresh homemade bread. Nilly is his all-purpose sister, split from the original Willynilly starter on Day 13. We started this whole journey from scratch — just flour and water — and watching them grow has been equal parts exciting and humbling.

One of the most special parts of this journey has been the community around it. Back on Day 8, someone anonymously sent me the most beautiful gift — reusable beeswax bread bags  and paper bread bags with labels  — before I had even baked my first loaf. I am so thankful. You can read all about that in the Sourdough Surprise post. Those bags are waiting. And we WILL fill them.

I started this journey from nothing — just flour and water — and I am committed to seeing it all the way through to that first loaf. Willy and Nilly are having to learn and grow right along with me, and bless them for it. For more on what healthy sourdough starter activity looks like at this stage, The Perfect Loaf has a great guide on building a sourdough starter from scratch. See you on Day 15!

More From the Sourdough Journey

• Sourdough Starter Maintenance — Feed and Fridge — How I keep a starter alive and happy with a busy family schedule.
• Day 21 — Goodbye Willy & Nilly, Hello Free Willy 2 — The dramatic turn Willy and Nilly’s story eventually takes.
• Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe — The loaf this whole journey is building toward, with a full printable recipe card.

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🌱 New to sourdough? Start with my Sourdough for Beginners guide — how to make a starter from scratch and bake your first loaf.

Sourdough Day 14 — About the Sourdough Journey

The Sourdough Journey is Stephanie’s series documenting her very first attempt at making sourdough bread from scratch. What started as one whole wheat starter named Willynilly became two — Willy and Nilly — before the journey took a dramatic turn. Now a whole new chapter of baking is underway with Pearl and Free Willy 2. Start at Day 1 and follow the whole story at stephaniecooksforacrowd.com!