Greetings!

 

My name is Dan Kelly.  I am responsible for the production of ginger seed at Puna Organics. We are dedicated to shipping high quality seed ginger as my partner Hugh Johnson has done for 20 years now. Unfortunately we have come up short on ginger for the 2012 season due to several factors. The nature of the crop allows us a very short lead time in recognition of these shortcomings. Each hand of ginger is dug and graded by our staff, then washed and graded and finally graded once more and cut into seed. We strive to make every seed piece exceptional. We will not ship a substandard product.
 
This year was the wettest year in a decade in our locale. Ginger is tolerant of torrential rainfall but this season was exceptionally rainy. In addition, the tissue culture process produces approximately 15-20% of small ginger that is unsaleable and not good enough for our seed; we only send the best. It is difficult to asses this quantity during the growing season and again we only get to discover and cull these in real time when we harvest orders. Some rows have plenty some none. We are learning how to identify these before we dedicate too much space and attention to them in the future. We are investing heavily in our project with a focus on reliability and quality.This is a big undertaking and we appreciate your understanding when it comes to the delicate nature of farming, especially when focused on quality. We strive to build a long term relationship with all our customers as their success is ours.
 
We have been astounded by the interest our crop has generated with the help of Susan Anderson and look forward to providing the best quality ginger seed in the future. We must thank Susan for the hard work that she has put in educating and talking with our new customers and are truly sad that she has been put in the position to inform you of our inability to fill all your orders this season. We sincerely hope that you will continue reading her newsletter and planning for next year! Additionally we will always be available to help in any way possible whether it be to our benefit or not in providing honest advice on options you may have. 
Sincerely,
Daniel Kelly

 

Greetings!

 

It's Susan here. First let me thank you for your understanding regarding this crop shortage. And I want to apologize for any inconvenience that this causes in your plans and preparations for the 2012 season.

 

I want to get right to some questions that you may have. If I don't address all of your questions here then feel free to get in touch. It may take some time to get back to you but know that I will.
 
Here is further information regarding your orders:
Refunds - I am issuing refunds, in full or in part, on orders because we have some seed to go around but not much. Orders made through the website are refunded via PayPal. These refunds may take up to 30 days to post. Refunds made from orders paid by check will see a paper check from East Branch Ginger in the USPS mail.
Turmeric and galangal - We have some but not a lot of these to go around, too. You may see partial or full refund on these items, as well.
Shipping costs - The shipping costs associated with seed you are not receiving will be reimbursed in full.
Where else can you get seed - As any good supplier would do when they run out of product, I want to recommend an alternate source for your ginger seed needs but have no other source to suggest. There are no other growers, to my knowledge, offering high quality, certified organic ginger seed. With trepidation, I can suggest growing some store bought ginger (get organic) in a container to try to get to know how ginger grows so you're ahead of the game for next season. These rhizomes could have been stored too cold en route to or in the store to be viable seed. So if they fail halfway through the season it could be from that or from potential disease harbored in the rhizome. Remember to grow it in a container to keep potential diseases quarantined in that media. 

 

Thank you so much for your order this season and your patience and understanding as we get remaining orders and refunds out to you. No grower wants a crop shortage/failure. We will be offering seed for 2013. I will be certain to keep the newsletters coming this as we learn more about growing this crop in temperate climes. Keep in touch with any questions/comments that you have through 2012.

 

Take care,
Susan
info@eastbranchginger.com
207-313-4358
Cannot help but throw in some cultural reminders while I can... Check out the website for cultural information. Read about presprouting your seed here. Turmeric, galangal and yellow ginger are presprouted similarly. You can also direct seed into soil that is well above 55F (this is soil temp), day and night. Perhaps a week or two after you might transplant out tomatoes is a good rule of thumb but use soil temp probes for accuracy in your area. These crops love healthy soil microbial activity. Inoculate with beneficial bacterium and beneficial fungi to help build soil diversity. Actinovate, trichoderma, vermaplex, black castings, and many more options for soil amendments. As always, do a soil test to get baseline nutrient levels.