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SproutPeople News
posted 11.11.2009
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Product/Site

WE HAVE NEW MIXES!

We started online in 1996. We have always done our own web work. At first we posted several pages with sprouting instructions and the like. We kept it small until we decided we had to share all we had learned about sprouting, so, I (Gil) built this site between 1999-2001 and have maintained it ever since. It is getting old (as evidenced by the time it requires to add or alter products) and, let's face it, our shopping cart is antique by internet standards. Lori and I have always done everything Sproutpeople needs. Everything! But the web has gotten past me, so we are working with an actual web design company to re-build our site. This is very difficult for me, but it is time. We will retain all of our content, but it will present itself in a less crowded way. We expect that the time saved by this re-build will allow us to add additional content. We expect to be able to add and/or alter products with ease, and our shopping cart will allow you to save favorite items for easy re-ordering, maintain an order history and allow you to track shipments. We will be launching the new site in early 2010, at our domain sproutpeople.net. This current site will remain here at sproutpeople.com, but all of the purchase points will disappear - or will link you to the new site. You're gonna love it!

Inflation

Prices are going up everywhere for all of us. Fuel costs drive everything higher (virtually everything is transprted from its source to its end user - and even though the price of gasoline is way down, truckers and shippers are not lowering their rates (UPS raised rates again - another 6% - in January!)). It is a fact of life - it has been worsening for years - and it doesn't look like it is going to get better anytime soon, though we are hopeful given the big change in Washington DC., but as it is a global problem, even that may not help.
We are trying to suck it up and keep our prices low. It is hard! We are a small family business, but we feel like we have to do what we can to keep inflation at bay. The more companies raise their prices the faster inflation grows. It would be much more helpful if the oil giants stopped gouging us (their profits have been at record highs for years now), or the car companies, or any of the other bazillion dollar corporations - but we know that's not going to happen - so it's up to us little people to help each other.
So what's new?!
Here is an example:
We get quite a few seeds from Canada. For years we enjoyed our dollar being worth almost twice the Canadian dollar. Now the U.S. dollar is roughly equal to a Canadian dollar. Good for Canada! We love them, but the reality is that we now pay more than twice what we paid for some seeds, just a few years ago. Farmers are also hit hard by fuel costs (tractors need gas too). Combine that with poor weather (Global Warming) and the resulting bad crops and we get short supply - so there is not enough supply to meet the demand, which further raises prices. Our profit margins have shrunk dramatically over the past few years. Fortunately for us we get more orders every year - so we make it up in volume - or have so far. With UPS sucking more of our money again, seeds costing twice what they did, suppliers raising prices on everything we sell (sprouters, juicers, kelp, etc.) and use (boxes, paper, packing peanuts, etc.), and the cost of getting those goods to us, it is only a matter of time before we have to raise our prices. We just want you to know that we take our part in inflation very seriously, and we will hold out as long as we reasonably can.

Seeds and Stuff

Seeds

Weather has been inconsistent for many years now and that has a HUGE affect on plants. Plants are phenomenal adaptors however, so we are pleased we can once again say that this years crops have impressed us. Low precipitation again this past winter will more than likely continue the trend of poor growing seasons, though we've heard some good reports from our farmers in a few parts of the country, we've heard the word drought from others. I'm sure we'll be impressed again - but that doesn't mean the seeds will be as good as they have been in the past. Please do whatever you can to help our planet. We all need to pitch in. Huge changes are neeed, but every little bit helps.

Good News

Though we no longer can offer Sprout-Ease Lid Sets, we Sproutpeople have something even better.
We now have our very own 3-Lid Set of Stainless Steel Sprouting Screens!
This is the 2nd sprouter we've had to make due to a manufacturers disappearance (the Hemp Bag was our 1st). We are very proud of this addition to our line of fine manual sprouting products - and we've just added a variation - Plastic Rings for a rust free experience.

Our Garlic Chive farmer in Illinois, has again provided us his exceptional seed - in good supply. We use Garlic Chive in our Italian Blend and Exotic Sprout Sampler, in addition to selling it as a straight sprouting seed. You should freeze this seed too. Check out our Seed Storage page. Freezing is the best way to store all seeds, but these and other Alliums are the shortest lived seeds of all, so they virtually require it.

China had yet another good growing season in 2008, so the crops we get from that part of the planet are high quality once again. There aren't many, but they are important - Mung Beans especially. Please understand that we are VERY concerned about ALL products from China. We were so impressed by the recent dog food recall and more recently the toys being recalled that we now read every label when we are shopping, and if something is coming from or has ingredients from China, or even if we are uncertain; we are putting it back on the shelf. The Chinese seeds we carry are another matter all together. These are grown by small farmers who are growing organically. We MUST support these farmers! They are doing everything right for this suffering planet of ours, and we are not going to make them suffer for the mistakes of the greedy corporations that currently have a stranglehold on our planet.

A loyal customer told us that sprouted Black Sesame looks really cool - like tiny dominos. So we found some, and she was right - it is cool - and it sprouts really well.

Once upon a time (2003 and before) we had many Garbanzo beans to choose from - Black, Brown, Large and Small Beige. We've been making it by with mediocre Blacks and even some pathetic Browns in our mixes since then. But 2008 finally yielded a great crop of Black Garbanzos for our farmers in Nebraska (we sent them 50 pounds for seed stock back in the last century, but they never produced well until now)! In addition, we have found another source of small beige, so once again we will have a thriving Garbanzoid (though the Browns are still pathetic), and Halloween Treat will return (assuming we can get our hands on acceptable decorticated (Orange) Lentils) for the first time in 5 years. We will also offer a selection of straight Garbanzos; Black and both Large and Small Beige. We hope to convince Mark and Ila in Nebraska to try growing Brown Garbanzos again (we sent them 50 pounds of those too, way back when) in 2009 - so perhaps we'll have even more good Garbanzo news this time next year. We even have a lead on Browns that may have them here sometime in summer.

This years Spelt is better than we've seen in years. It still won't grow grass worth a damn, but it sprouts better than your average Spelt.

Not So Good News
That time of year again - when my ordering has not kept up with demand. These are seeds we are out of - or at least close to out of.
It is not unlikely that they will not be available until the new harvest is in. Sorry.

Popcorn Shoots
Spelt

These seeds are troublesome this year. They are either hard to find at all, or hard to find in good quality, but we keep looking....
Fenugreek
Rye Grass
Crimson Clover
Onion

Unfindable (usually) due to farmers choosing to grow wheat (which was fetching big bucks at planting time) instead.
We need these for a couple mixes, so we're holding onto what little we have while we search the planet for more:
Red Chief Lentils
There are shortages of quite a few other seeds as well, but I won't go into the specifics now.
Gone forever - or until some farmer decides to grow some again:
White Lentils

A curiousity of the 2008 crop year was this; after 2 very bad years, which saw yields as low as 33% of normal - the price of wheat shot up last year, so many farmers planted wheat instead of other crops - thinking it would yield a tidy profit. This has resulted in a shortage of several seeds. We are hopeful that the 2009 harvest will offer remedy this. Stay tuned!

We had hoped to soon have Oriental Mustard back in-stock after 2 years without it. Our farmer had a great crop growing, but the snow fell before it got harvested. It is more-than-likely,that that farmer won't see the plants again until April or May of 2010 =:-( Demand is very high for this seed, but we have been unable to find any at all since spring of 2008. We are working hard on this one, so be patient. This is the seed we sell for both Mustard Sprouts and Mustard Greens. Our supply has finally run out, so we are currently using another mustard in these fine blends: Russian Mix, Nick's Hot Sprout Salad, Oriental Greens, Hot², Long Life, and Mesclun Mix. We have even had to substitute for Oriental Mustard in our Micro-Greens Kit and our Brassica Sampler.

The Future of Raw Almonds
A lot of you have asked about the future of almonds. It is true that our government very quietly (and without public notification or call for comment) passed a law to pasteurize all almonds. We need to make some serious noise if we want RAW organic almonds to be available again. Fortunately for all of us, we have The Cornucopia Institute! The Cornucopia institute is working to reverse this ridiculous law. Learn about what they are doing and how you can help.
Also write your elected officials (all of them) and the USDA to demand that organic almonds not be pasteurized (Click to download a Sample Letter (This link will download a Word file which will go wherever you file your downloads)). This is another case where we can say that certified organic seed has never been blamed for a single outbreak of food-borne illness. That recent research shows organic crops to be more nutritious is only more reason for us to stand up and be heard while we can still fight for healthy food. Visit our friends at The Cornucopia Institute for further information.

Gone is the manufacturer of Sprout-Ease Lids and The Tube. All of you loyal customers will likely remember this oft repeated sad refrain, we apologize. We have given these people every possible opportunity but they do not fill orders, do not respond to e-mails, their voice-mail is always full and they disregard faxes. Our current order was placed in September of 2006 (yes, 2006!). We have had this identical problem more than a few years now and we are finally fed up completely. Waiting many months, running out-of-stock and living with all the stress is just no way to live, or do business. We will no longer be carrying their products. We are very sad to see them go. Their products remain on our site for now as we hold out that very last ray of hope; that they will fill that September 2006 order. If they do we will place another for as much as we can afford - hopefully a supply that would last for 2-3 years. Of course we won't expect that to be filled for at least 6 months, so even if the best happens and we get our order, we will certainly run out again before they fill the next one. So don't be surprised when you get an out-of-stock warning when putting those products into your shopping cart. As we always say at this point, as much as we love their products we do have better. Sproutpeople's own 3-Lid Set of Stainless Steel Lids are way better than the old Plastic Lids, and Easy Sprout is better than The Tube. Check out those devices and feel lucky - they really are better.
We had found a small supply of The Tube, through a big distributor here in California, so for a while we were selling our old design Kids Sprout Exploration Kit again, but that supply has now gone and though we are once again hoping to uncover more, we have little real hope anymore. BUT; We have a new, and far more inexpensive Kid's Sprout Kit.

Beyond News
This isn't the first year weather has been weird, it has been like this since we got into agriculture (1989), and before, but it is surely worse than ever - way too much heat and inconsistent moisture (too much or too little and often at the wrong time). As concerned as we are about global warming, we like to think that "life will find a way" - which means, in this case, that seeds will adjust to the new conditions. Seeds are alive and they work for the survival of their species. One way they do that is by acclimating. Seeds are amazing - they are what made us become Sproutpeople.

We won't go on about the bad crops. Like we said - the weather has been difficult for many years, yet we always seem to find high quality seeds in the quantities we need. We now know that that will be the case again this year (all the seeds we purchased exceeded our expectations). We have all the new seeds in house now, so enjoy the selection.
Here is a page about storing your seeds.

As always, we are trying to do better - as Sproutpeople and as human beings.

Thank you again for your continuing support and kind words.
Happy Sprouting!

Gil & Lori
Sproutpeople