When I had my business, Living Greens, I was always on the lookout for places to purchase my sprouting seeds. It was important that the seed have a high germination rate, otherwise, you had less yield per jar/tray. And seed that does not sprout is dead seed, old seed. Absolutely worthless!
Back in my haydays of sprouting, I had an account with Caudill Seed in Tennessee. They were connected to a rather large sprout growing business, Sunshine Sprouts, also located in TN. I developed a relationship with them, purchased my seed in 50# bags delivered on a pallet, got all my sprayer nozzles for my mungbean cans, misting heads for my automatic sprouting racks that I put together, and things were good. Then, they started coming out with ‘patent’ sprouts, ie broccoli sprouts, etc. and I thought, “This is crazy! How can someone patent a process? Well, needless to say, they lost that one, the court said you can not patent a growing process. Caudill does not sell to the little guy anymore. I could not even find the organic seed list on their website. On to independents!
Fast forward many years, and when I look around now, I am blessed to find my favorite place to buy seed is right down the road from me. Frankferd Farms foods has been around since 1985, their farming probably longer. Family owned and operated here in midwestern PA., Frankferd has access to some quality Organic seeds, grains and dried fruits. They remind me of the early Co-op days, lots of bulk products, longhaired hippies (some of my favorite people) bagging and filling orders. Their sprouting seeds have wonderful germ, meaning just about all the seeds sprout! And, you can purchase in 1#, 5#, or 25# at a time. It is ORGANIC seed. They have alfalfa, broccoli, chia, red clover (my favorite), radish, French & brown lentils, buckwheat, soft spring & hard winter wheat and all kinds of beans. Another really great thing about this place is that they have a good selection of raw nuts & seeds. So, for many of your RAW FOOD needs, it is one-stop shopping. They do NOT have the exotic things you may find at a raw food site, but, if you believe in eating low on the food chain, and would like to eat as fresh as possible, then you will want to consider sprouting in your kitchen. Find them online at www.frankferd.com , ask them to send you a catalog, or just order from online. A real nice group of people, always willing to help.
My second recommendation would be mumm’s sprouting seeds if you are looking for micro-greens, (arugula, cabbages, etc) and the baby blanket growing medium or liquid kelp, then they are the one’s to go to. They are in Canada, but, they have a special where if your order is over $50, they ship FREE.
I still grow my greens in soil, but, I am going to be ordering a roll of the baby blanket & the liquid kelp. We have a farmer’s market in my small hometown, and I am getting ready to start selling them sunflower greens. Just to keep me in greens all the time, and to put some feelers out, perhaps I will find some people to teach some raw classes to.
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Fantastic blogpost, I bookmarked your site so I can visit again in the future, All the Best
March 26th, 2010 at 8:32 pm