"Richard L Walker" > wrote in message news
> Glad you got your Carl's starter. When I'm in a bind (and my starter
> is on the disabled list) I either make one from scratch or make a
> batch or two with Goldrush. Many folks seem to not like it, but I do.
>
> >Nicki Sinclair wrote:
> >> I sent away for Carl's starter a month ago and have received nothing.
> >> I'm eager to get a starter going again and wondered if anyone has
> >> another source for me to obtain.

Most branded dry starts are undated, so you can't know how long your
new start has sat on the shelf before you got it. That has been true with
Goldrush as well, which, I presume, is the reason that experience with
it is variable. Carl's is freshly cultured and dried, and dated, when you
get it, so it almost always revives vigorously.

Recently a batch of SASEs was lost in the mail between the dispatcher
and the distributor, so envelopes needed to be recreated from backup
data. So some people are getting Carl's starts in unfamiliar envelopes,
unusually late, but quite fresh, as usual.

My choice for a quick delivery is http://tinyurl.com/6vm9g . But Carl's
is worth waiting for, and even cheaper (2 stamps and and envelope). As
far as making your own from scratch, it is an endless conversation. For
instance: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sourdough/ (if you can get by
the "Hi-there-I'm-new" messages).

--
Dicky