🌱 Happy February 🌱

soup and sprouts to make it great

Lori’s Perfect Soup is made with our Great Beans & Rice Mix

GREAT BEANS & RICE SALE

It’s pretty cold and wet out these days, and soup is one of our favorite ways to warm up - so we’re making a lot of Lori’s Perfect Soup - like we do every winter. So you can more easily enjoy this wonderfully simple, satisfying, nutritious, and warm delight - we’ve cut the price on its main ingredient - Great Beans & Rice Mix - by over $2/lb.

Though you can click the links and get to the recipe - we thought we’d just copy it here, for ease. This sale will last through February - or as long as our supply lasts.

Perfect Soup

The sprouted beans and rice elevate this soup to a level previously not attained by other soups. Besides the nutritional value, the sprouting adds a delicate sweetness as well as alleviating the usual gastronomic discomfort associated with beans. It may be too good. This is a long standing staple of our winter diet.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1 cup onion - chopped

• 4 cloves garlic - chopped

• 3/4 cup sweet pepper (any/all colors) - chopped

• 1 or 2 carrots - diced

• 1 parsnip - diced (optional but excellent)

• 2 cups sprouted Great Beans And Rice Mix

• 1 quart vegetable or other stock

• 2 tsp. oregano

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 cup sweet corn

• salt to taste

• tomatoes - chopped (optional)

DIRECTIONS

• In a medium sized pot or pressure cooker, heat olive oil.

• Add the chopped onion, carrot, parsnip, garlic and oregano - saute until the onions are translucent.

• Add the sweet pepper and cook briefly.

• Add the Great Beans And Rice Mix, 1 quart stock, and bay leaf.

• Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 45 - 180 minutes or until the beans are tender and creamy.

• Add sweet corn 10 minutes before soup is done and salt to taste.

• Garnish with tomatoes.

• Serve with dense dark breador Sprouted Whole Wheat Bread.

Notes:

• The longer you cook this soup the more tender it becomes.

• We sprout our GB&R for 24-48 hours, after Soaking. The seeds don’t have to sprout, though some will. As with all sprouts - the biggest nutritional jump happens solely by the seed soaking up its fill of water - so roots aren’t important - and since we’re cooking this - it matters even less. Though still very nutritious - this soup is primarily about warmth and comfort.

WELCOME TO NEW FOLKS

Some of you who are seeing our Newsletter for the first time may have found us in a new way. We were featured on Gardening Simplified today (February 1). This small group does some great work! They cover a huge range of growing topics and we are flattered they asked us to join them.

A couple of new customers - who found us themselves - which is pretty much the only way anyone can find us since we don’t advertise - liked what they got from us and asked if we’d be interested in joining them on their show. We’ve been in a major magazine (Health), on PBS Wisconsin (both in the 90’s), and on HGTV (about 20 years ago) - but it has been a long time since anyone sought us out.

I (Gil) did the talking. Lori would have joined - but really - if you’ve seen any of our videos - or you are a regular reader of this Newsletter - you must know that I’m just too chatty to talk alongside. I’m glad that the hosts, Stacey and Rick were able to manage me enough - and Adriana, the producer was able to edit so deftly. If you want more of Sproutpeople - you can find the show on their You Tube Channel or the Gardening Simplified website. They have a Podcast version for every service - and they cover so many growing issues that you will be happy to know them.

COMMUNICATING WITH US

When we moved to our new e-commerce system in mid-December, it was largely for ease of use - for you. Our web guy, Mark also told us it should increase our sales thanks in part to it working for everyone - which our previous system did not always do. To date it hasn’t altered our sales trajectory, but we have had far fewer people contact us with technical problems - and those that have, have found their own solutions - which have been simple - like scrolling down the page so the View Cart and Checkout buttons become visible.

So, though we’ve needed to do less tech support - we find one glaring difference that bugs us. Our previous site had a nice big empty field for notes and comments on the last screen of checkout - where you could tell us anything. The only place you can now communicate with us is via a similar empty field (I added the words “Write us notes Here”) that shows up every time you add an item to the shopping cart. Here is what it looks like…

This field appears near the bottom of the sidebar that opens whenever you add an item to your cart. If you have more than a few items you do have to scroll down to get to it - and to the cart buttons. You can write in this after adding the first item - or subsequent items - and your words will stay there - but once you’ve proceeded to checkout there’s no longer a way to tell us anything, though your note will come through on your order. This imperfection bums us out.

We are a business. We do need to make money so we can pay our bills - and our one remaining employee - our son, Sam - as well as our social media guru - our daughter, Alice. Lori and I (Gil) are used to working for little $, but we just cannot stand life being impersonal. What has always kept us going is your kindness. We all gush over notes we receive on orders! We crave connection. We NEED connection! So please write us something. We love reading how you’re doing as an indoor farmer. We love knowing your pets names and if they like what you grow them. Even a smiley face or a Thanks! makes us happy.

Sam thinks we should offer a prize for the best note we get every week - or month. I don’t want to create a challenge situation - and I certainly don’t want to force anyone to write something just to write - but I think I will try his idea by adding a gift to an order with a note that makes us super happy.

As I’ve whined for the past couple years - sales are miserable. Though Lori and I don’t make much - we do need to make enough. We will not spend our savings on groceries, utilities, and daily living. Our job needs to pay for those things. We hope to actually retire in the not too distant future (we’ll be 67 and 70 this year), so we need to save what we have been able to over the years - so we can enjoy that retirement. So - no big prizes, no big challenge - just know - we’ve shown you where you can write us when ordering - and we’ll express our appreciation when we can - with a note and possibly with a gift. Thank you so Very Much for choosing Sproutpeople!

A POLL FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

NEWSLETTER FREQUENCY

I get newsletters from several groups and businesses - and from most of our competitors (a couple of those are also friends). Frankly I am burned out. I’ve been annoyed by advertising since I was a kid in the 60’s. Nowadays I get so many of these that I’ve been feeling like I need to cut back on how much we publish. Less is More. Because I feel this way I’m going with one a month from Sproutpeople. Feel free to tell us if this is too little. Many people have told us that our newsletters remind them they need seeds, If that’s true I should do more. I just don’t know. I’m not big on pushing sales and - again - I’m just tired of being sold to.

If you’re still reading I suspect you appreciate words. I did start this one off selling - but if you’re a regular you must like my rambling. Maybe it’s not the volume of Newsletters I get that bugs me. Maybe it’s just that they’re all about selling. I just can’t do that stuff anymore. Please tell me what you want. Hey - a poll might help…

OUR 4 LEGGED FAMILY

The boys are living in the moment, as always. They’re smarter than me. Ira is at work with us every work day and Django and Gus await our return. It’s been a cold winter here - which I’m hoping will mean a better garlic harvest in the garden, and maybe our plum tree will provide more than a handful of plums this year - but that’s off topic. Here are some pictures of the gang. I know this is all many of you really look forward to =;-)

We went back to Crissy Field with Ira because he had so much fun on his first visit the month before. Here he posing with the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance.

Sam had hime zooming all over. We even got him to run through water - which is a big deal because Ira usually avoids water. Here, he just can’t wait for Sam to throw his ball again. We all had great fun - even though the day was quite chilly.

Ira and his big buddy Chauncey, from down the block. When we walk around the block Ira runs up to Chauncey’s house and barks his greeting - and Chauncey barks back. When Chauncey’s mom is walking him, he stops at our door - pulling her like in this picture - so he can get right up to our front gate and call to Ira - who barks back if he’s home.

Ira and his work buddy Wiley. When we arrive at work, Ira’s first duty is to run to our neighbor’s door and bark - loud - for his friend, Maui - who sadly is moving next week. After that he runs over to Wiley’s place of business. These 2 have walked together twice a day since Ira was a puppy.

Django let me get a close-up while he was lying in one of his many baskets. I wasn’t so lucky with Gus - who remains absent from these pics, for now.

One of the only times Ira and I are separated is when I go grocery shopping. He hates it, so I cover him with some of my recently worn t-shirts - so he can smell me - and to keep him warm and comfortable.

Ira LOVES his toys. We have a basket of them under our living room table. We call that space Ira’s office. He likes to take a toy out to play with - and he even brings them back and puts them back in his basket - sometimes.

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Essentials for those new to the world of Indoor Farming...

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPROUTS AND MICROGREENS

To us the difference is that with Sprouts we grow with nothing but water and we eat the entire crop (with the possible exception of hulls and roots that grow out the bottom of our Stainless Steel Sprouters) - and they are alive when we eat them. Microgreens are grown on a medium and we harvest them by cutting them just above that medium - at which point they move from alive to not. Raw, great, delicious - just not alive.

While I'm on this subject I need to explain why we have two different names for the same seed - like Broccoli Sprouts and Broccoli Microgreens. This is the same seed. The difference is that each crop has its own page - you go to the Broccoli Sprouts page to learn how to grow the seed into Sprouts and you go to the Broccoli Microgreens page to learn how to grow it into Micros.

This seed will also grow a full sized - which is like 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide - Broccoli plant in a garden - given the proper climate and encouragement.

SEED STORAGE

If you don't yet know how to get the longest life for your seeds - and prevent pests - visit our Seed Storage page. The best way to store seeds is in the freezer, but do not use the refrigerator as its humidity fluctuations can harm seeds. There's a bit more to it - so perhaps just visit the page =;-)

Grow to Live - Live to Grow.

Be well and happy.
Gil + Lori

Sproutpeople.org is an encyclopedic resource of our creation - for indoor farmers of Sprouts, Microgreens, and Grass. It is so enormous that it gives some the impression that we are a big business. The reality is that we are basically 2 people who eat and breath Sproutpeople - and 2 part-time helpers (one being our son). Our site has been online since 1996. It's the employee that allows us to serve all of you.

In addition to a section that teaches the Basics of Sprouting and Growing, a goodly section of Recipes, a bunch of Videos, and a whole lot more -

Every Seed and Mix we offer has a profoundly detailed page devoted to it. Those pages feature two sets of Growing Instructions (Brief for the experienced and Detailed for the not yet experienced), a Video, Photos of the crop growing day-by-day, Recipes, Crop Specific Notes, Nutrition Info, and quite a bit more. Each of our Supplies also has a detailed page.

Our vast content is organized with Tabs (on computer) and Pull-Down Menus (on mobile devices). Click/Choose, for example Detailed Instructions on the page you go to when you click any of the pictures surrounding this text - and you will be presented Seriously Detailed Instructions. Click around. Growing Photos. Notes. Recipes. Please let us share what we know.

We survive by selling on the internet, but we live to educate anyone who wants to learn about growing sprouts and microgreens. Learning is what the internet was actually built for, so we're really just doing our part.

Please enjoy sproutpeople.org

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