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We first grew sprouts professionally in 1993 and sold them, for the next 11 years
at one of the best markets in the world!
A Brief History of us Sproutpeople
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Sprout School & Shop Sprouting Seed Info Center
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The Dane County Farmer's Market in Madison is rated as one of the very best in the country - it is ranked annually by numerous publications as such. The location is beautiful! The historic Wisconsin State Capitol sits in the middle of the Square and farmers and other vendors (bakers, honey and maple syrup people, butchers, cheese makers and much more) set up in the 1/2 mile of sidewalk which surrounds the square. What makes this market so exceptional is that every vendor is the producer of the product which they offer. This is a food market - vegetables, bakery goods, meat, cheese, pesto, jams, maple syrup ..... you name it, you can find it here and you can talk to the people who make it.
Across the street you will find fine coffee, crafts, jewelry, food carts and more.
We were vendors from 1993 -2003, selling 22 varieties of fresh sprouts, greens and grass every Saturday from the last one in April to the 1st one in November. In 2001 we decided to take off after the first July market. We were so busy with our seed business and our awesome growing kids, plus it had been a very hot summer and we hate growing sprouts in temperatures over 85°! We went even less in 2002 and stopped all together in 2003 before moving out of Wisconsin at the end of the year. Really, we loved it and we miss it terribly. We started Sproutpeople there, partially raised our kids there and grew close with many vendors over the years. It is a WONDERFUL market!! If you are in Madison or can get there during the market season, you simply MUST attend this market!
Keep in mind, the vendors come from all over Wisconsin. We came from 100 miles away and we weren't even close to the farthest. Waking up at 3AM on summer Saturdays is the one thing we don't miss about the market =;-)
Madison is a great town. If you're in the region or looking for a pleasant place to spend some time, give it a try.
This is Wisconsin, so remember that availability varies depending on the season. We always had sprouts, but the watermelons don't appear at Tipi Produce (our old neighbor) until late July and the Asparugus starts the 1st week of May but is gone by the beginning of July at the latest.
If you like to watch people and stock up on fresh, fantastic produce, maple syrup, meats, bakery goods, pesto, eggs and of course Sprouts - you might consider a visit in July - when the most diverse selection of items is available .... but then again ...... the apples don't really come in until late August and early September ......
Come often!
We have a growing list of customers who buy seeds from us, grow sprouts, and sell at markets around the country. We love helping folks get started as sprout growers and have every intention of adding specific information on our Sprout Garden web site - as soon as we can find the time (so far we've been looking for that time for over 4 years - so please don't hold your breath). We also want to add links to market growers and small sprout companies who rely on us for seed - so - if you are one and you have a site - or some pictures - send us a note and we'll add your info!
SPROUTPEOPLE®
170 Mendell St.
San Francisco, CA 94124
Toll Free:
877/777-6887
(877/SPROUTS)
We only use the phone for emergencies.
Back in 2001 we were still using the phone. One day I was talking to a long-time customer while pushing my (then 4 year old) daughter on the swing in our backyard (this is what a mom n' pop business is like on the internet). It dawned on me that my priorities were severely messed up, so I stopped using the phone. I love to talk and I love to help, but my family would never see me if I picked up the phone again, and that's just wrong don't you think?!
The very best way to contact us is through E-mail =:-)
We are quite fast and VERY thorough. We love to help.
We have been an internet only business since 2001. We are not a big corporation. We are but 2 people, Mom n' Pop Sprout. We decided after years of juggling our family's (kids, dogs, cats and even our own) needs, and the needs of Sproutpeople, that we had to make more time for our kids, so we stopped talking on the phone. All calls go to voice mail and have since 2001.
We are very fast to fill orders and answer e-mail, and though we wish we could make the time to talk, we just can't seem to get more minutes into a each hour. We are many years older than when we started and our days are too short and made up of too few hours to do everything. This limitation in our business has not kept us from pleasing our customers, nor from growing (as we have every year since 1993). We do what we do as well as we can, and we think we do it very well indeed.
We appreciate your patronage more than we can say. We ask that you use the phone for emergencies only and that you search our site for answers before e-mailing us. This site is bigger than any 4 sprout books put together, it is always available and it is free, and we know that almost all questions are answered here.
Thanks again for your support and your many kind words.
Sproutpeople