š± Happy July!
summer has arrived
SUMMER SALE
Weāre having a big sale on Brunoās Indoor Garden, our splendiferous Microgreens mix. I mixed up a Huge batch, and our inventory of the ingredients is great - so weāll keep this running until we canāt. Itās marked down 20% =:-)
I (Gil) have to send a special apology to our customer Steven S. in NY, who buys more Brunoās more often than anyone - because I only just now realized that Iād screwed up when I entered the sale price on our website (which I thought I had done 2 weeks ago). Iād told him that it was on sale - but it wasnāt. But ā it is now! Sorry Steven!
We will be putting other things on sale as inventory allows. Seeds are harvested by farmers primarily in the late summer - fall, so this is the toughest time of year to find high quality seeds - - and organic seeds are always harder to source - so - itās a tough time - but weāll have unannounced sales when we can - so check back now and then to see if your favorites - or something youāve wanted to try growing is on sale.
CUSTOMERS ARE LIKE FAMILY
To be sure, that line is not always true. We had a couple really nutty customers this past week that strained us terribly with downright nasty emails - - but the vast majority of you are kind to us - and some of you have been so for years or even decades. We love you for that - and we adore when you send us ideas.
One such is our customer-friend Deb W., in Maine. Sheās not shopped with us for 4 years, so Iām (totally) vague on our past history - - but she and I emailed back and forth last week and she was clearly āone of usā - so I enjoyed it very much. She had a thought that I tried out right away - because I am growing (of course) a crop that was specific to her idea - which is as simple as they come.
She said - āI love your videos, they are so relaxing. I see you tap the water out of your Stainless Steel Sprouter. Wouldnāt a paper towel wick it out fast and easily?ā
I left the first part in because I love praise - and I always think I bore people to tears with my long-windedness in our videos, but as they is intended for beginners - Iām okay with that. Just the same - I LOVE hearing that people find me relaxing. Deb isnāt the first to say this - so Thank You to all of you who find me relaxing! Iām pretty sure Lori would have an interesting opinion on that after 39 years of marriage and 32 as business partners =;-D
SO! I am trying Debās idea with my crop of Crimson Clover Sprouts, which make the perfect sandwich in tomato season (which has just begun in our greenhouse). I find it very helpful in getting the last bit of water out, but I think we need to be careful during the first couple days because - until the roots come through the bottom mesh and make the crop secure enough to use the Rinsing Upside Down method (taught to me by our beloved customer-friend Rhonda T. in Washington), I realize that the paper towel has to be kept from pushing the roots back inside the SSSprouter. Itās the pressure I use - not the paper towel itself obviously - but if you too want to try this - my advice is to make sure not to push the roots back in. Just keep the towel off the actual bottom - at least for the first couple days.
Itās such a wonderfully simple option for reducing the time it takes to Drain Thoroughly (Maniacally =;-) - so Thanks Deb! You may have saved a whole lot of time for a whole lot of people! My current crop is only on day 3, post-Soak, as I write this - so the juryās still out - but based on my experience so far, this is a great idea!
HOT/HUMID SPROUTING
We hear/read that itās hot and humid out there. At our home - one the western side of San Francisco - we see little sun during the summer, but us four Sproutpeople are midwestern born and raised - so we know what youāre experiencing.
We do share this every year at about this time - and as Iām very busy with Sproutpeople projects (see next section) and gardening - Iām going to paste in what I wrote a couple years ago - because this topic doesnāt really change - and then Iāll add some suggestions weāve receivedā¦
Heat, humidity, or lack of humidity, less air circulation, warm water coming from your tap - these are just some of the issues that make indoor farming more challenging this time of year (in the northern hemisphere). Crops grow faster - but since sprouts generate their own heat while growing - they can start ācookingā instead. What can we do to grow successful crops this time of year?
We have always advised adding a 3rd Rinse/Drain cycle - daily - to help keep crops cooler. Thatās an especially good thing to do when growing Brassica Sprouts - like Broccoli - and thatās pretty much all we need to do to get excellent crops during the summer - but some people have greater challenges. Some cannot get cool water from their taps this time of year. What can be done then?
The easy answer is to grow quick crops - like Bean Sprouts, Grain Sprouts, or Nut and Oil Seed Sprouts - until the climate turns cooler - - but hey - - weāre Sproutpeople - we want to grow everything - always - and thereās just nothing like a fresh tomato sandwich with home grown Leafy Sprouts - so we have to find an answer.
A customer from southern Arizona wrote asking if she could sprout in the refrigerator. Her tap water gets no cooler than 81Ā° this time of year - so an extra Rinse/Drain wonāt help. How can she grow crops that take 5-6 days during the summer?
Some of the replies weāve received on this are very creative. Iām generally against minimizing air-flow - but Christine D. - who lives in Arizona has some real world experience. She offeredā¦
Have some kind of temperature-controlled environment for your sprouts. I started by using two paper grocery bags covered by a Mylar bag. Now I use an insulated box (fashioned by my husband and covered with bubble wrap). How about an insulated bag or even a small cooler?
I use a thermostat (an indoor/outdoor wireless system with several sensors) inside my special environment to keep track of the temperature. If it gets too hot, I use Blue Ice (or equivalent) to keep those babies happy.
I set aside some cool water especially for the noon rinse. If necessary, refrigerate the rinse water. If the tap water is too warm at noon, I still rinse with it but follow with the cool/cold water to cool my babies down.
Diane in Washington sentā¦
I live in the desert of eastern Washington. In the summer there is very little humidity but it gets very hot. I give my sprouts 3 or 4 rinses per day. During the first few days, I place a saturated (wet, but not dripping) washcloth over the sprouter. Evaporation causes cooling. It's so dry where I live that I need to wet the washcloth several times a day. (To give you an idea of how dry it can be . . . A pair of jeans can COMPLETELY dry outside on the clothesline in less than hour.) When the sprouts get bigger and need to be uncovered, I sometimes put my sprouter into the refrigerator for 20 minutes, maybe 2 or 3 times a day, depending on conditions. Be sure to set a timer!
Regarding rinse water temperature, if one uses, say, a gallon of refrigerated water, pour it into a basin or large pot with a diameter a little larger than the sprouter. Then dunk the sprouter several times - gently for the first few days, then a bit more vigorously when trying to loosen hulls so they float to the surface.
I will add that I donāt think you can dunk our SSSprouter until the roots have grabbed onto the bottom mesh. If you dunk before that - the seeds will float up and will never anchor themselves in place. My thought is to do this only after the sprouts are going to say in place - and take it slow.
Thanks again to all of you who have offered suggestions over the years! If you have something to offer - please do not hesitate to share it with us.
If you live in a coolish place or have AC and keep your house below 80Ā° - and your tap provides cool water - all you need to do is add that 3rd Rinse/Drain to your daily sprout chores - and then only if youāre growing Brassicas or Leafies. Youāre lucky! Like us - you can grow anything - anytime. Enjoy that - - and all the tomato and sprout sandwiches you can eat @:-)
UPDATE ON OUR FUTURE
Iāve told you how slow business has been of late, and summer and fall are always the slowest seasons for us - so instead of whining at you about the economy and such - I will share that we have more time and are using it for ābig pictureā projects.
Besides the fulfillment center idea, which Iāve mentioned the past couple months - weāre also playing around with our Sproutpeople logo (for the first time this century) and working on a new brochure for, at least first time growers. These things are surely months from coming into being - but itās fun for us to do this stuff. We are both holders of MFA degrees from an art school after all, so we enjoy giving our creative sides some time.
Only time will tell if these things, and possibly new packaging too come to fruition - but we wanted to share that with you. We have found a couple really exceptional fulfillment centers - and though we know some of you prefer we keep mixing and packing everything by hand - we are going to be 137 years old this year (Gil + Lori) - so we do have to plan for the future. Weāre thrilled at the possibilities!
As Iāve said before - we want desperately to perfect our website and make more videos - and if we find people who care like we do, who can ship our seeds and supplies to you - we will finally have the time. We are So Excited at the possibilities! Maybe Iāll even get to that book Iāve been talking about for 15 years. Maybe books?!
GARDEN QUESTIONS
We were gardeners before we became Sproutpeople - but weāve grown over 200 tons of Sprouts - plus countless trays of Microgreens and Grass - which is way more tonnage than weāve produced in our gardens over the years - so I have questions. Iām hoping some of you will have ideas. If you do - just drop us a line with your thoughts.
This picture shows some young Cilantro plants - but itās the algae, fungus, or whatever that flat green stuff is that Iām trying to grasp. As Iāve said a zillion times - itās often cool and foggy where we live - so Iām used to (though exasperated with) moss growing on our soil - but this is something Iāve never seen in our previous 10 years in this garden. If you know what it is - please share that and any ideas for curing our organic soil - so this stops growing.
This next one isnāt really a question - but it amazed me, so Iām sharing it. With our cool and foggy conditions we deal with slugs and earwigs eating more than their share of our crops. Take a look at this leaf of Romaine Lettuceā¦
The little buggers ate every bit of leaf but left the ribs behind to taunt us! Weāve never planted lettuce in this particular bed - which gets very little sun anytime of year because itās shaded by a tree and a house. Generally this bed is used for Kale, Collards, and Chard. Though those too have to fight through the insects - they manage better than lettuce. Any ideas for controlling these varmints are appreciated - as long as theyāre organic. We do use remedies - but none have worked much in our experience.
This is another bed. It gets more light. Weāve got Beets, Collards, and Broccoli - all growing well (though too crowded - which is my fault) - and all grown from the same seeds we sell you to grow Sprouts and Microgreens. Beets always do pretty well for us - but we have the best Brassicas weāve had in years. Usually cabbage moths are a major problem - but for whatever reason - weāre not seeing them much this year. The Collards are Enormous and Delicious - as is the Broccoli, which is So Much tastier than store bought. Weāre very grateful for this bed as weāre having a particularly bad season in general - largely due to the weather, we think.
Hereās one last picture of our garden. Itās an entire vacant lot - so itās impossible to capture in one picture - but itās nice too see it on a sunny day - even though the beds are (except for the one pictured above) producing little, so far. The bush on the left is Blackberries. When we started here they were everywhere - but weāve gotten them (for the most part =;-) under control. In a good year we get about a gallon of berries from this mass of brambles. Our 60 square foot greenhouse makes it possible for us to grow tomatoes and peppers - both of which are impossible to grow outside here.
OUR 4 LEGGED FAMILY
Thereās going to be enough words with the pictures - and youāve read this far already (or did you skip right to this section =;-) - so Iām not adding any extra words here - except all these I just wrote to say; āIām not writing anything hereā.
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
