Free State Wyoming Forum
Free State Wyoming (FSW) Community => Swap Meet => Topic started by: MamaLiberty on November 21, 2007, 11:57:32 AM
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I'd like to form a co-op to purchase bulk foods, herbs and some other things. I have one excellent supplier already for natural foods and herbs, and would search diligently for anything else folks wanted. This would work for almost anything that can be bought in bulk, even some clothing and such.
I will receive the shipments, repackage and label them, and hold for pick-up by local folks (Weston, Crook, Campbell counties) or reshipment at additional cost. I'll keep records and send out regular announcements/newsletters of proposed buys, as well as receive and process your requests, do customer relations with the various providers and answer questions the best I can.
Please contact me if you are interested. We need to talk about whether we want a yearly membership or per transaction fee, among other things. Those who bought a lot might prefer the membership, and those who just wanted a few things or to try it out could opt for the per transaction fee. Let me know what you think of it. :)
If anyone knows of some special legal hoops we'd have to jump through to do this, please let me know. ML
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ML, Would this be for grains, fruits, vegetables (fresh? or dehydrated?) and meats of all varieties? I would li9ke to get grains and herbs and spices, sugar,etc. Also fruits and veggies-I like to dehydrate stuff. Depending on cost ( I am still trying to get the business established) I and my kids are IN. motherfrog
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I would like to know if you can get me natural growing seeds. I plant most of my own veggies when I can but I'm sparse on seeds... can you get viable seeds? (i.e. seeds that will yield further reproducing plants? aka, "non monsanto" seeds?) I'd be interested, even before I ever get around to visiting, just want to know the details and pricing.
Thanks.
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Elk,
Did you used to be Hunter? Anyway, google is a great tool. Here's a place to start.
Dave
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBF_enUS24US24&q=survival+seeds
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Thanks, Dave. I have lots of excellent sources, but I'm always happy to learn about more. I have always bought in bulk when I can, but being alone here makes that impractical for lots of things - thus I'm looking for partners.
Motherfrog, we can get almost anything that is not perishable. I don't have storage facilities for anything that needs refrigeration. With game so plentiful here, it would seem much more economical to make our own jerky or dried meat products, rather than buy them elsewhere. I would be willing to help with butchering and sausage making for a share of the kill. :)
Elk, there are many sources for garden or field seeds which breed true. Saving seed for further crops is, however, not always so simple! Things crossbreed quite easily and sometimes you get quite a surprise unless you take special care with those plants you wish to save seed from. I have extensive experience in this area, so PM if you'd like to talk about it. I can help you get set up so you can save seed and get the results you want. :)
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With game so plentiful here, it would seem much more economical to make our own jerky or dried meat products, rather than buy them elsewhere
Very true. I've hunted and fished 90% of the meat my family eats every year. Every once in a while you still need a T-bone from a Angus ;D
Dave
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I've never been able to afford a T bone from an angus or any other cow... I've never had one. And I'm afraid I'm too Scotch to actually enjoy anything that cost $8. a pound anyway.
Luckily, I'm happy with very small amounts of meat, and overjoyed to have wild game of any kind. Guess you don't miss what you don't know about. <G>
[Edited 11/24] Got to thinking about this and have to amend it to say I never BOUGHT a T-bone steak. <G> We used to have our own beef and we always got at least some of it back in steaks, though we used most of it as stew, roasts and burger. It's been nearly 40 years, but hard to believe I could just have forgotten how good that was fresh off the grill. sigh... And I'd LOVE to try one from an angus. :)
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ML,
I definitely want some Heritage seeds of most any variety. I want bulk grains as well. Are we talking canned goods as well? BTW are you going to come by with any of your leather stuff any time soon? I now have room for some other things as I sold the large pieces of furniture at the store. I will get a table or two and hopefully a clothes rack or two. Do you know of anyone that has store-style clothes racks to sell? motherfrog
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I don't have anything made yet, but I'll bring something as soon as I can. Winter is when I sew. :)
We can get anything we want in the co-op, but I suspect canned goods are so cheap and easy to get locally that it wouldn't be worth it when you consider the cost of shipping. We'll have to see what is available and what people want. For example, Pamida here in Newcastle has nice canned vegetables and kidney beans, chili beans on sale for 33 cents a 15 oz can.
Whole grains and grain products are absolutely something I want to get. Also all kinds of herbs, spices, seasonings, sea salt and other things necessary for canning and preserving like bulk powdered vitamin C, citric acid and other things. We can grow many herbs, and I'll offer my home grown as soon as I have enough, but in the meantime we can get much better deals than the 99 cent packs at the grocery store - when even that is available. The health food stores here are HORRIBLY expensive, that I've seen.
There are many kinds of seeds available, and we should have no problem getting them. I'll put together a list and we'll see who wants how much of what so we know what to order. :)
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That's the one upside in Virginia, most of the health food stores out here are pretty cheap. That's of course, a relative term, I'm sure. Spices are cheaper at "Health and Wellness" than they are when on sale at Food Lion. Surprisingly.
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My personal preference for seed is from Seeds of Change. Bulk, small orders, all kinds of plants and seed. All organic and viable. Just type in seedsofchange.com after the www dot bit.
I have been getting their seed and plants for over 10 years now.
patch
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Yeah, I kinda figured can goods would be rather high. I want to get away from them as much as I can. All those preservatives to give them shelf lives of years and years just cannot be all that good for us as a constant diet. I have a lot to learn about going natural. It will not be easy to male the change and get prepared for fresh and dehydrated from fresh, but I am more than ready and also willing, I like the idea of a co-op.
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I concur with your sentiment, motherfrog.
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I would be interested to know how cheap these sources are. I frankly have never found any "bulk" dealers that were cheaper than the grocery stores. Let me know a few exemplary per-ounce prices, if you can and are so inclined. Till then, Smiths has case deals occasionally (semi-anually?), and there are some *great* deals indeed. Peace!
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John, I don't think any of us have mentioned the word "cheap." The kinds of bulk grains and foods I want are not available locally at ANY price. A few things are available in small packages at the health food store in Rapid City, but at very high prices.
My primary source is in Southern California. It is a 7th Day Adventist store in Loma Linda, CA. They ship natural and whole grain products to members all over the world. Members and others. I'm not a member, but have shopped there for nearly 40 years. I trust the quality and the price.
Shipping will be the killer, which is why I figured it would be a good idea to order as much as possible at a time and split it with other people.
My goal is to be able to get whole grains and flours, dried fruits, herbs and seasonings, and other food items with the assurance that there are no dangerous chemicals or pollutants in them. There may well be other sources, and I will research to find them too.
As soon as I can, I'll post a list of the items I propose to get and the price we'd need to pay to get them. Then, once I collected the orders and money, I'd send for the stuff. Local people could pick it up here, and those who wished to have me ship it would just pay the extra shipping costs.
Does that seem reasonable?
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Ah, I see. Well, I'm all about the good deal and I love my rBGH and yummy modified genetics, but to each his own!
Someday, someday perhaps, I shall find the incredible better-than-grocery-store dealer, cut out the middle man, and eat off into the sunset, and oh what a day that shall be.
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Here are a couple of links. One of them has free shipping!
http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=273
http://www.providentliving.org/content/list/0,11664,2003-1,00.html
http://www.waltonfeed.com/
http://lds.about.com/library/bl/faq/blcalculator.htm
That should be a pretty good start. There are, of course, many many more.....
SC
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Thanks, Ken. I'll check them out.
The problem with "free" shipping is that is really isn't. Somebody has to pay for it, and you can bet it isn't coming out of their profit!! And it shouldn't. The shipping is a legitimate cost of getting whatever it is you want.
Over the years, however, I have found that providers who try to convince customers that the shipping is "free" are sometimes less than honest about other things... so I'm wary of such outfits. Just for what it's worth.
There really, REALLY is no such thing as a "free" lunch. :)
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I would be interested to know how cheap these sources are. I frankly have never found any "bulk" dealers that were cheaper than the grocery stores.
True, Smiths has 20 for 10 FRN cans frequently. And I've seen better than that at other places sometimes. For grains, rice, breadmix etc. I've used this place many times. They are stand-up folks. And they will even permentanly delete all records of your transaction if you ask them too. That may be extremely valuable in a couple of years.
Dave
http://www.internet-grocer.net/
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You may want to check out this website:
www.azurestandard.com
We belong to a food co-op here in North Central Idaho that uses this outfit. They have a great catalog, with bi-monthly sales. Most of their products are organic and they deliver on a monthly basis. I believe that they have a delivery route that goes to your part of Wyoming.
They are really good folks to work with, they are out of Oregon.
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Great,thanks and welcome!
Dave, I don't expect to get into ordering canned goods. They are easy to get locally and the shipping would be murder. But we might be able to get a bulk deal even on that from some local canner or warehouse. There's no reason not to look into it if the members want to do so.
I'm much more interested in finding local or reasonably close suppliers for fresh fruits and vegetables next summer. We can then can or dry our own if we want.
I've heard that there are some good fruit producers in Bell Fouche, but have not yet gone over there. I'll make a point of it next year. Does anyone else know of some outfit that grows fruit and/or vegetables in SD or NE Wyoming?
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Here are some large co-ops and distributors we might use as resources.
http://www.rainbownf.com/ (http://www.rainbownf.com/)
RAINBOW? Natural Foods is a wholesale distributor of natural and organic products, based in Aurora, Colorado and serves as part of the Western Region for United Natural Foods.
Rainbow services over 1200 customers in the Central United States with a product selection of over 17,000 covering the Dairy, Bulk, General Merchandise, Personal Care, Beverage, Grocery, Frozen and Vitamin categories. Among those are a number of exclusive proprietary brands.
San Francisco Herb Co. http://www.sfherb.com/ (http://www.sfherb.com/)
Gourmet Herbs, Spices, Tea, Essential Oils, Potpourri, and Catnip at Wholesale Prices.
Wholesale prices on the highest quality culinary herbs and spices, extracts, teas, dehydrated vegetables, nuts, seeds, botanicals, essential oils, potpourri ingredients and fragrance oils.
Frontier http://www.frontiercoop.com/ (http://www.frontiercoop.com/)
[Too much environmental touchy-feely for me, but some might like it.]
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ML, That seems like a good idea to me. Let us know when you get the info. motherfrog
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Ok, here is the first proposed buy. I use this sea salt. http://www.realsalt.com/shop/realsalt_bulk_box.cfm (http://www.realsalt.com/shop/realsalt_bulk_box.cfm)
I've been getting it in a local health food store in a 26 oz package for about $4.00/pound plus tax.
If purchased in a 25 pound sack, it will cost about $3.36 a pound, including the shipping. There would be no tax. Repackaging costs would be small, but it would be expensive to reship.
Let me know if you are interested in getting some of this, and how much. I'll contact them and see if they would make a deal on more than one sack...
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If you know any Mormons in your areaaround about etc. many times there is a church related co-op bulk warehouse in the area. If they have 'extra" they will usually sell to non-church members.
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Thanks, Joe. It's a possibility, but not likely anything closer than 100 miles. I'll check it out. :)
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I think John & I would certainly be interested in the co-op. That is when we get moved in up there.
As for now we are just using up what we have mostly so we don't have to bring so much when we do come.
We are back on the forum for now anyway and will be catching up for the next few days.
HUGS
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If you know any Mormons in your areaaround about etc. many times there is a church related co-op bulk warehouse in the area. If they have 'extra" they will usually sell to non-church members.
The one for our area is the
Green River Wy Home Storage Center
120 Shoshone Ave.
Green River, Wy. 82935
307-875-3972
Here's some example prices:
Apple Slices (15 lbs) $3.31 per lb.
Pinto Beans (25 lbs) $0.48 per lb.
Oats, either Quick or Regular (25 lbs) both $0.36 per lb.
Hard Wheat either Red or White (25 lbs) both $0.19 per lb.
Chocolate Pudding (25 lbs) $1.50 per lb.
#10 dry pack can $0.55 each
Oxygen Absorber $0.10 each
They've got all kinds of food storage stuff. You will order in tandem with some of the other Mormons in town (there are a bunch in Newcastle) so you all can get a whole pallet and save on the trucking cost.
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Thanks, John. The dried fruit is especially interesting. Who would I contact here in Newcastle to set that up?
On another note, I can get organic white whole wheat flour for a good price. A 50 pound bag costs just $16.95. I don't know what the shipping cost is yet, but it comes from Montana, so it won't be too much. If we could order several hundred pounds, it wouldn't be much at all per pound.
Let me know right away if you are interested. I use a lot of this flour (been getting it in 10 lb. bags at WalMart) so it is one thing I will definitely be getting soon.
V2Dream, I can store some here for you. Let me know if you want some. :)
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Thanks but we use a Vita-Mix and also have an electric grist mill that we use to grind up the whole wheat berries when we need the whole wheat flour. It will last indefinate if you don't grind them up. I have several 5 gallon buckets of the stuff. So I don't need any right now. I will let you know if I do. I will be interested
in helping out with the co-op though. I have always thought it was an excellant idea.
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They sell the whole wheat as well. I know I've got to get a mill of some sort, just have never done so. I use the whole wheat berries sprouted, then ground for some of my bread. I have more than 100 pounds of the red wheat I bought for y2k, and it's still perfect.
Anyway, I'll be getting some of the whole wheat and some of the flour. Just need to know pretty soon if anyone else wants some. :)
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Last call for wheat or flour. I'll be making the order tonight. PM right away if you want anything.
I'm ordering the Gold flour, wheat berries and oat groats.
Prairie Gold? Premium Flour - 50 lb. Bag
Literally thousands of bakers have told us that they wouldn?t use anything else. This flour, ground from our Prairie Gold? wheat, will delight you, your family and your customers in every way. It?s so versatile it can be substituted for white flour in some recipes, giving your baked goods unique flavor, plus all of the benefits of whole wheat. 100% whole-wheat flour. Chemical Free. GMO Free.
$16.16
Oat Groats - 50 lb. bag $29.04
By groating the kernel, we remove the hull, leaving just the most palatable part. Our oat groats are soft, chewy and packed full of flavor. Oats are among the most nutritionally beneficial grains available today. Our groats are produced from select, sound, clean, hulled, heavy test weight, white oats. Chemical Free. GMO Free.
Bronze Chief? Wheat Berries - 25 lb. Bag $8.05
Bronze Chief? Wheat Berries - 45 lb. Pail $23.58
Bronze Chief? Wheat Berries - 5 lb. Bag $2.61
Bronze Chief? Wheat Berries - 50 lb. Bag $14.89
Cracked Hard Red Spring Wheat - 25 lb. bag $17.65
Hard Red Winter Wheat - 45 lb. pail $23.58
Hard Red Winter Wheat - 5 lb. bag $2.61
Hard Red Winter Wheat - 50 lb. bag $14.89
Prairie Gold? Wheat Berries - 25 lb. bag $8.05
Prairie Gold? Wheat Berries - 45 lb. pail $23.58
Prairie Gold? Wheat Berries - 5 lb. bag $2.61
Prairie Gold? Wheat Berries - 50 lb. bag $14.89
Soft White Wheat - 45 lb. pail $25.13
Soft White Wheat - 5 lb. bag $3.00
Soft White Wheat - 50 lb. bag $17.64
Wheat Bran - 2 lb. bag $2.71
Wheat Bran - 50 lb. bag $18.52
See this link for other grains, beans.
http://www.wheatmontana.com/store/index.php?cPath=29 (http://www.wheatmontana.com/store/index.php?cPath=29)
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ML,
Dang!!!! I missed the deadline. I was not able to get online for over a week. If you have any extra wheat berries or whole wheat flour let me know. motherfrog
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Bad news all around there. When I went to make that order, the prices had all gone up by 50%!!! You read that right. Instead of $16. for that bag of flour, it was $24. Increase of 8 dollars. All the other prices were up the same. :'(
I looked hard for other sources, though nobody else has the white wheat that I could find. All the prices I found were even higher!! So I went back and tried to make the order after all. No soap. They only ship USPS and my order exceeded the weight limit of the PO. No option to send in separate shipments and no other shipping method available. I sent them a message and have received no reply.
So, I'll try to call them today. I'm really upset at missing the lower price, but such is life. If I have to, I'll order each item separately.
How much do you want? I'm ordering 50 pound bags of white wheat flour, whole white wheat and whole oats. Other things are available.
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Mama,
Have you tried Walton Feed? They have a website.
I have bought from them in the past.
John
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Their web site is a nightmare and they don't list any of their prices on line. I have not downloaded the PDF file of their catalog, which is extensive. (SLOW dial-up... sigh)
Don't know why they can't make that information available on line. I'll take a look at it when I get a chance.
But the information they do have on their white wheat makes me think they probably buy it from the Montana wheat outfit. The description is identical.
I'll check into it more tomorrow and get back to y'all soon. <G>
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You may want to try this link
HTTP://waltonfeed.com/cart/all.html
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Thanks! I'll call them to see if their prices are still the same and what the shipping might be. :)
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I placed an order at Waltons... blind, since they don't show the shipping on line. I wasn't really happy to give my credit card number, but went ahead. Then I got the email with the shipping costs and just about fainted. 50% of the cost added to ship it a few hundred miles from Idaho? That's nuts!!! (And there are no other shipping options available.)
Now I don't know what to do - and Walton doesn't carry the flour I want, so I'll have to order that somewhere else anyway. ARGGG. Why does life have to be so darn frustrating? <G> Just thought I'd let you know what happened.
> > $254.80 Goods Cost
> > $0.00 Idaho Sales Tax
> > $6.00 Boxing Fee:
> > $0.00 Handling Fee
> > 376 lbs Ship Weight
> > $115.92 Shipping
> > $127.72 Shipping Total including UPS fuel surcharge
> > $382.52 Grand Total
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Then I got the email with the shipping costs and just about fainted. 50% of the cost added to ship it a few hundred miles from Idaho? That's nuts!!!
I hear you on that. I was looking at the same problem ordering ammo from AIM Surplus a year or so ago. The surplus ammo was going for somewhere around ten cents a round, but the shipping was nearly half again as much. "That's nuts!!!" So of course I refused to buy any, since the shipping was so offensive. After shipping, it would have ended up costing nearly fifteen cents per round :(
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After shipping, it would have ended up costing nearly fifteen cents per round Sad
Yep... and what does it cost per round NOW, with shipping? :) That's the big question. I went looking around the internet for other sources and most of them want a lot more for the initial products... and the shipping would be the same or more, depending on where they are.
I suspect this shipment will be a bargain in the long run, even with the horrible cost. I have a feeling the cost of shipping is not going to get any less, our money isn't going to be worth any more, and the cost of the food items will only rise - so it would seem wise to go ahead and get them now while the getting is good.
So, I repeat. If anyone wants anything there, let me know soon. I'll make up my mind sometime on Monday. I'll also go talk to someone at the LDS church about their bulk food deal.
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Hi, MamaLiberty,
Big Ugly here.
Do we have anyone in the group that is an OTR trucker?
Or, someone who travels for business?
Maybe consider paying someone in the group to do the haul for some extra bucks?
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Hi, MamaLiberty,
Big Ugly here.
Do we have anyone in the group that is an OTR trucker?
Or, someone who travels for business?
Maybe consider paying someone in the group to do the haul for some extra bucks?
Actually, we have at least one or two OTR truckers in the group, though I don't know just where it is they drive. That would work if we were ordering a truck load, of course, but 375 pounds is a tad shy of that. Probably would cost a whole lot more than the $127. to send a truck to Idaho for this order.
If we had enough people who wanted stuff to fill a truck, that would certainly be an option, but so far only one person has even indicated interest, and the entire order I placed is mine.
I'm actually pretty disappointed that there was no more interest in doing this. The prices for these commodities isn't likely to go down any time soon, and the shipping rates certainly won't, so it seems like a real good time to stock up on non-perishables. I looked hard all over the internet (never did make contact with the Mormons here, however) and all the prices were MUCH higher, with the usual shipping on top, so this is still a good deal in spite of the shipping cost. It will have to do for now.
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http://www.alisonspantry.com/p_details.asp?PaID=7&PCID=6
There are several distributors for this company in Wyoming, Colorado, MT, NV, ND, SD, Nebraska and Utah. You pay 9% shipping for your order, the truck delivers to the distributor and the distributor makes arrangements for you to pick up. They carry Walton Feed products, as well as Honeyville and Turkey Brand wheat, in flour or whole. You can get it in bags or buckets. There's a list of coordinators to call and see who your distributor would be. Besides wheat they do have the dehydrated/freeze-dried fruits and veggies as well as dry milk, sweet whey, powdered cheese, butter, margarine and eggs, just to name a few.
HTH
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Thanks! We'll have to look at that for another time. I went ahead and placed the Walton's order this morning.
Guess we'll see how this co-op thing goes once a few more FSWrs have made it to Wyoming.
You still didn't tell me what you'd like to have. I'll have lots of white whole wheat and would be glad to share some. I bought a flour mill too, so won't be buying flour anymore.
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Mama, I would be/ and am interested, but have a short term storage problem. Hopefully spring will fix that.
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Let's see what happens. I'll keep bumping this thread and we'll try it again in spring. I won't personally need much of anything more for quite some time, but I'd still be glad to coordinate a group buy if anyone wants it.
Prices are not apt to go down, and shipping most certainly won't, so the sooner the better. I'd be glad to store small amounts for a while, if that's the only problem.
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I finally got the order from Walton, and the oats were "out" so I'll have to reorder later. The shipping cost will be much higher then, of course, unless I can put together another bulk order. So, if you wanted something and didn't get it before, speak now or you'll have to get it on your own. :)
All the rest came well boxed and in good shape. Don't know how I'll get the 50 lb. bags of wheat downstairs... but I'll think of something. <G> Still waiting for the mill I ordered from the manufacturer.
Now, if anyone wants a one pound brick of bread yeast, say something. I've got 20 of them and can spare a few. Unopened, kept in the cool and dark, they'll be good for many years. Opened - and preferably put into a glass canning jar, kept in the refrigerator - it will be good for at least a year, and longer if you freeze part of it in an airtight container. Cost: $3.00 each plus any shipping if I need to mail it to you. Let me know.