🌱 Our 30th Anniversary 🌱
A Story and A Sale
30 YEARS AS SPROUTPEOPLE
When Lori first suggested we grow Sprouts - we were in our first season as Market Gardeners. I (Gil) wanted to grow plants - and seeds, from those plants. If you’ve read our (not at all) Brief History, you know the story. The sprouts were supposed to tide us over until our garden grew - a few weeks we thought.
A few decades later - here we are.
Sproutpeople was our first child (not counting the 2 cats and 5 dogs that preceded it - though we do actually count them too). It was born around the beginning of June, 1993. We didn’t make any notes as we thought it would just be temporary. Originally we called ourselves Jupiter’s Farm (after our first dog, who we credit with our move to the country). We were also expecting our first human child - in August. It was a very busy year. It soon became evident that sprouts would not be temporary, so the day a new customer appeared in front of our market stand, at the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison, Wisconsin and cried out “OH! Sproutpeople” - we changed our name to The Sproutpeople at Jupiter’s Farm. As the years passed we dropped everything else and went with just Sproutpeople. We’re all Sproutpeople here after all, and we’re far too egalitarian to consider ourselves The Sproutpeople.
It has been our life. It remains our life. We are here because we are who we are (perseverant and downright stubborn) - and because the internet came into our lives - making it possible to reach so many people. We were professional growers - though we always grew by hand - and in 1997 we started selling seeds as well as grown crops. At the very end of 1999 we sold the growing portion of our business to an employee and focused entirely on selling seeds and supplies - and teaching people how to grow their own crops.
We don’t advertise - choosing instead to make people search. We found a long time ago that a person needs to want to grow sprouts for them to truly embrace the process. Our site is by far the most detailed site online, about growing Sprouts, Microgreens, and Grass - so any self respecting search engine has to show us near the top for any relevant search. When we started there were dozens of search engines. My how times change.
Thanks for finding us!
30 years!
Wow!
ANNIVERSARY SALE
We imagine you’re expecting a big sale to celebrate - and as we are now into our slow season (Memorial Day - Thanksgiving) - and our sales were frighteningly low these past few months - a big sale would seem wise - but hey - we’re 30 years older than when we started - and we’re tired from busting our butts for all these years - so we’re having a modest sale instead. We don’t want to have to work too hard =;-)
This week you will find discounts on…
Radish (our current batch has a special Red Daikon in addition to the usual 3 varieties)
4 Legs of Love - Sprouts for Dogs (and People)
Yellow Peas (for Sprouts and/or Shoots)
THE BOYS
Ira, Django, and Gus were a bit lazy in May. It was the least sunny May any of us can remember - and in our (western) part of San Francisco - the foggy months of summer are coming - so we all take advantage of the sun whenever we can.
Ira’s spent a good deal of time in the garden - while Gus and Django have the whole neighborhood to roam - though they always wear their GPS collars when out - and they only get to be out in daytime as there are far too many coyotes around nowadays to let them be night kitties.
I don’t know if you can see this, but as SubStack allows us to insert video - I thought I’d try. This is Ira greeting his best friend, Johnnie at the park. It’s just a few seconds.
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
Congratulations! I love reading your newsletters and all the pics & stories of your furry babies. I really liked the old format much better than this one, however.
Congratulations!! I think I've read your "how we got started with Sprout People" story each time you've written about it, and it's just as enjoyable every time.