Example of SASE with starter sent to you for US addresses.Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter
How to Get Carl's Starter
NOTE: OUR ADDRESS HAS CHANGED as of July 2022
USA Residents
Send a self-addressed, stamped (73¢ or forever 1 ounce 1st class) #10 envelope (SASE) to:
Oregon Trail Sourdough
P. O. Box 337602
Greeley, CO 80633 USA
We require a #10 envelope, also called, in the USA, a "business-size envelope", measures about 9-1/2 inches by 4-1/8 inches (24 cm by 10.5 cm). European size DL is close enough.
If such an envelope is not available, simply send postage (or US currency - $1.00 covers the cost for US addresses) plus your postal address, and we will provide an envelope. An address label is helpful but not required.
Please, only 1 request per address due to the enormous volume of requests. You can revive the starter and share it with house members.
Please don't send huge or small envelopes for your SASE or send us empty envelopes. Empty envelopes will not be sent a starter. You will only delay getting the starter if you do not follow the instructions.
Example of SASE with starter sent to you for US addresses.
Please write your address carefully and neatly. When filled envelopes come back marked undeliverable, there's nothing we can do about it.
Normally, it could take up to six weeks for your start to get to you, but it probably won't. See why
Only one start is sent per envelope to better the chance of making it through the postal machines.
There is no tracking available for the return envelopes. We do not contact you to verify receipt. We just send the start back.
Note: The US Post Office seems to have periodoc slowdowns as some starts have been taking 2 months to arrive after we mail them and sometimes it seems they hold the requests and release them all at once. This has been happening since 2019 and we can't tell when it will happen or why. Please be patient with delivery as this is completely out of our control.
See tips below.
Other Countries
Requests sent outside the US require $1.65 US postage or substitute two U.S. one-dollar bills instead of the SASE. If you send currency, include this instruction: "Send Starter." Send your name and address and fold your instruction note around currency to reduce possibility of pilferage (this rarely happens). (The currency option is recommended for Canada and other places in the world where U.S. dollar bills are not unusual.) Please give us your address exactly as it should appear on the envelope to ensure we don't make mistakes. You can send $2 US dollars to our PayPal at sourdough@carlsfriends.net and we will make an envelope and put the stamp on for you)
Our cost, including postage, for overseas mailings is ~$2.00. Otherwise, non US requestors should contact a volunteer as we can accept PayPal at our email address. Any currency sent without an instruction will be treated as a donation. Do not send an IRC or UPU as the US post office no longer honors them.
Please be aware that we cannot use stamps issued by countries other than the US -- only US stamps are accepted by our post office and we cannot use non-US currency.
Cost
There is no charge for the starter. Occasional unsolicited donations offset costs of distribution and production to allow us to carry on Carl's tradition of not requesting a fee. (Please, NO CHECKS. Our banks have made depositing checks very difficult. Cash works fine or we can accept PayPal at sourdough@carlsfriends.net.) We do not verify your payment for you. We just send the starter back.
The Brochure
Read Carl's brochure here or print a copy from the MSWord (*.doc) or Acrobat (*.pdf) files at this web site. If you do not have access to a printer and need a copy, please write "SEND BROCHURE" on the back side of the SASE. This is Carl's original brochure containing some things we don't recommend (like milk, potato, or commercial yeast). Concise instructions for reviving the dried start are also available here containing our current recommendations for the starter.
Disclaimer
The semi-dry sourdough starter you will receive is composed of wheat flour, water, and sourdough organisms, presumed to be "wild" yeast and lactobacillus bacteria. The usual amount sent is a teaspoon, sufficient to start several cultures. It is cultured, dried, and mailed under sanitary, but not sterile, conditions by a volunteer who adheres to the methods used and recorded by Carl Griffith. Our process is documented here. It is not certified as a foodstuff. If you are allergic or reactive to any of its components, you will be allergic or reactive to it. We also guarantee that we make our best efforts so that you will receive a healthy, vigorous dried sourdough start which will easily revive to authentic Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter. Also, we will never sell or reveal any of your personal information you send us.
This page is current Fall 2024
This is what you get in your SASE
IMPORTANT: Publishers please make reference to www.Carlsfriends.net, not to our P.O. Box, which may change. Full and current instructions can be found there.
Note: We have become aware of an eBay site purporting to sell our starter, falsely claiming we no longer exist, complete with our stolen logo. We have nothing to do with this site and have no idea how well the starter is being kept.
Tips:
1. To send the SASE (self-address, Stamped Envelope), You need 2 envelopes and 2 stamps. You take a business sized envelope, address it to yourself, put a first class stamp on it in the upper right corner. You then insert it into a second envelope. Address the second envelope to us, put a first class stamp on it, seal it and mail it to us. The image above is what the return inside envelope looks like when we mail it back to you.
2. Do not adhere a stamp to the wrong size envelope. You will only delay getting your starter as this adds work to get the stamp on the right sized envelope.
a. If you don't have the right sized envelope, just put a stamp (or a dollar if you don't have a stamp - $2 for outside of the US addresses) into the envelope. Adding your address label to adhere is helpful. See the photo above for the correct size envelope and how to address it.
3. Do not send an envelope for the SASE less than 8 inches (20 centimeters) wide. We have to replace small envelopes and this will delay getting the starter. (if you only have one longer envelope and a short one, use the longer one for the SASE and fold it to insert into the shorter one.)
4. Do not send an envelope with nothing inside it. You will not get a starter. You have to at least pay for the return postage.
5. Do not put stamps from your own country (outside the US) on an SASE envelope. We can use only US stamps. This includes our close neighbors in Canada.
6. Do not send currency that is not US dollars. We can't use foreign currency. Use PayPal as it makes the conversion from your money to US dollars automatically.
7. Don't put yours or our return address on the upper left corner of the SASE. We put our return address label there and will cover up yours (lets the Post Office know the white powder is harmless). If this is for someone else, put a note inside or on the back of the envelope to let that person know you requested it for them.
8. There is a lot of how to information on our website. Please see the Photos and Illustrations link and the Revive link. We have a FAQ (frequently asked questions) with more sourdough information and the original Rec.Food.Sourdough usenet FAQ links on the home page.
9. This is how to use PayPal. Please note in the comment section the name that is on your request so we can match it. We cannot use any bank transfers or other electronic methods.
a. The way you pay using PayPal is to log into your own paypal account. (It is easy to set up a PayPal account and fund it with a credit card rather than your bank account if you wish. There is no penalty to use it only once.)
b. Click on the "Send Money" tab at the top of the page.
The "Send Money" box will appear.
c. In the "To (email or mobile phone)" box, type
sourdough@carlsfriends.net
d. Below that, in the "Amount" box, type the amount you wish to send and the denomination of the currency. (Mine defaults to US Dollars but yours might be your own country’s money.)
e. Below that is the optional Purchase or Personal tabs where you can note the type of payment. I believe this is for your records rather than for us.
f. Then click on Continue.
g. The "Review your payment and send" box appears where the email address and amount, your fee, your total charge and "Mary Buckingham will receive" appears.
h. When you are satisfied that it is correct, click on the Send Money box to send us the payment. PayPal makes any money conversion automatically and we receive it in US dollars no matter what your currency is.
i. Send us an email with your postal address so we can send you the starter. PayPal does not show me the email address you use for it. It shows the account name.