Managing a Long-Term Starter
There's a great thread on starting starters. What about managing them?
I bake three to four times a week out of necessity. I have two children under the age of four and a husband in the military. I'm not really able to cultivate three or four different starters, so I'll let you in on a secret: I'm actually hacking a starter. I made one according to Lepard's instructions and it worked like a charm. Since then, I've been refreshing six days a week or so with whatever flour I'm using at the moment. I'm guessing it's 50% whole wheat, 40% white, and 10% rye at the moment.
Today, I used a liquid starter when I really should have used a stiff starter. Honestly, the difference in hydration is so minor for the whole loaf, I thought... really? We won't eat bread for two days because it's not stiff enough now?
How do you maintain your starters? Do you maintain multiple starters (and have children and tomato plants and a husband)? If you don't, how many refreshings do you do before you consider it good to go? Etc.