25lb. Net Wt. buckets of sprouting seeds have been added to our offerings at Pleasant Hill Grain. There are 8 types of seed in the package, and the cost is $112. Sprouts offer fresh-vegetable nutrition year-round, and 25 lbs. goes a long way. A complete breakdown of seeds and their component prices can be seen at http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/sprouts.html. There's also a link to a page with a great deal of info. on the attributes and uses of various sprouting seeds.

We also have added cases of dried butter flavor granules and dried cheddar cheese mix; the page on those products can be accessed from http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com.

Our grain and mills are shipping, at low cost, in 72 hours, and the new products mentioned above are expected to be ready to go out before the end of May.

Hope you'll visit us.

Thank you,

-- Gary Hansen (zz@hamilton.net), May 17, 1999

Answers

That link would be:

www.pleasanthillgrain.com

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), May 17, 1999.

I am one satisfied customer of Gary's. I bought soybeans, corn and a grain mill from them. Fast service, good products and no complaints at all. A part was missing from my grain mill, and it was immediately sent after I notified them. I don't have any connection with that farm other than being a customer,etc.etc.etc. So Gary: what's the difference between "sprouting seeds" and seeds of the planting type???

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), May 18, 1999.

Hi Jeanne,

How're the chickens?

What's the difference between "sprouting seeds" and seeds of the planting type?...

In many cases there would be few or no intrinsic differences between seeds sold for sprout-consumption vs. for growth to maturity. If you want to eat sprouts from seeds grown for planting you'd need be sure they hadn't been treated with a fungicide or anything like that, of course.

Cost is a major issue here. Take green peas for example. In our bucket, they're $3.50 per pound. I just checked the catalog of one of the country's largest mail-order seed sellers, and their green peas run about $5/lb. if you buy 5 pounds. I don't know how other seeds would compare; I chose peas at random.

For the most part, I can't tell you the varietal names of the seeds we sell for consumption as sprouts. Since they're open-pollinated, you can grow them and they'll do fine, but if you want to know just what to expect from mature plants, then you should start with seeds sold for gardening. (Note that not all sprouting seeds being sold are open-pollinated.)

For sprouting, I think our bulk pack is a frugal approach to fresh-vegetable nutrition.

For the benefit of those who haven't used sprouts or dry-stored foods and wonder what the point is: While there's no substitute for large quantities of clean dry grains and legumes, they need to be supplimented with fresh vegetables to balance the diet. Sprouts meet this need as an economical, easily-stored food that produces very quickly (under a week) and tastes great.

Our approach to sprouts is the same as our approach to grains... to provide them in quantities that meet the needs of people who don't want to be reliant on tenuous supply lines for basic sustenance, and to sell those quantities at affordable prices. If you do a web search on sprouts, you'll find some astonishingly high prices. Within reason, that's understandable if the seeds are in 2-ounce packages and you order three packages, because the overhead-cost of filling that order might be nearly as high as for us to sell someone 50 lbs. of seed. But from many places, if you order 50 lbs, you still pay 2-ounce prices... and then I guess the seller goes to Acapulco for the weekend. Not that I wouldn't like a vacation, you understand, but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to face my e-mail inbox when I got back :-)

-- Gary Hansen (zz@hamilton.net), May 18, 1999.

Jeane, I should have noted that the catalog I looked at was for garden seeds.

-- Gary (zz@hamilton.net), May 18, 1999.

Hi Gary. Can you verify if these sprouting seeds you are selling are organic?

-- OR (orwelliator@biosys.net), May 18, 1999.

Orwelliator: We're relying on the statement of the seed supplier, on the basis of their reputation. They're one of the largest suppliers in the industry and have been at it for about half a century. You raise a legitimate point about assurance though, and we'll ask them about documentation. Thanks.

-- Gary Hansen (zz@hamilton.net), May 18, 1999.

Orwelliator Again: A signed, hard-copy letter of verification is on its way to us now, from our supplier of bulk sprouting seed. If you'd like a copy of it please e-mail your USPS address and we'll be happy to send one off to you.

-- Gary Hansen (zz@hamilton.net), May 21, 1999.