Recently, I've mentioned my need to
tackle our overrun, ugly summer kitchen gardens to make the
transition to fall crops. I've created plans, determined when to
start the seeds, and realized I'm behind schedule.
Guess what? I've still successfully
avoided the gardens all week.
I could make excuses: I'm readjusting
to the back-to-school routine, focusing on writing, cleaning the
house (my husband is rolling his eyes now). Honestly, the gardens
just look so...depressing.
Then yesterday, while searching a
website, I found my motivation:
World Kitchen Garden
Day—Sunday, August 26, 2012.
Launched by Kitchen
Gardeners International as a healthy response to the
International Snack Food Association's “Snack Food Month,” World
Kitchen Garden Day is an opportunity to gather in gardens with
friends, family, and neighbors to celebrate the pleasures and
benefits of home-grown, homemade food.
Real food. Local food. Healthy food.
Now, that's something to celebrate!
World Kitchen Garden Day is an
excellent motivator to get our gardens whipped into shape.
Plus, I can spin it into a fun, family
event, instead of tackling the gardens by myself—HA! It's a holiday, after
all—right? Maybe I'll invite friends and neighbors, too, and share
some of the weed-pulling, soil-amending, planting fun in our gardens.
Of course, I'd feed them yummy local
food. I have a great recipe for Peach Crisp.
In honor of World Kitchen Garden Day, I
have a giveaway to inspire you to get your hands dirty!
World Kitchen Garden Day Giveaway
The winner will receive:
$25 gift certificate for Seed
Savers Exchange
to purchase your kitchen garden seeds.
(They also
have a great selection of books and gardening gifts.)
-and-
No matter your political beliefs (and
let's check those at the door, please)--this is a beautiful book. In
2008, Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI) initiated a high-profile
public awareness and advocacy campaign known as "Eat the View,"
calling on the White House to plant a kitchen garden. The
organization believed that if a kitchen garden could be planted in
such a high-profile location, it might inspire millions of people to
plant their own gardens. With more than 110,000 signatures on KGI's
White House garden petition, the administration took notice.
So did most of the country, as the White
House South Lawn became filled with fruits, vegetables, herbs—and
thousands of visitors.
From the inception of the garden to the
planning, soil testing, crop selection, community involvement, fails,
and even seasonal recipes, American Grown is more than just a
coffee table book. The layout and photography is gorgeous, but I
especially loved the profiles of gardens and gardeners across the
country, as well as the seasonal planting diagrams of the White House
Kitchen Garden.
There are several ways to enter the
giveaway—and each action counts as a separate entry. That's right, you can
enter up to FOUR times! Here's how:
- Leave a comment on this post with your name and your favorite homegrown fruit or vegetable. (If you don't currently follow Growing Days, I would be grateful if you would “Join this Site.” If you already follow Growing Days—thank you!)
- “Like” my Garden Delights Facebook page and leave a comment. I share more gardening tips and information on the FB page. (Again, thank you if you've already liked the page—just leave a comment!)
- Repin this post on Pinterest. To make it easy, you can just Repin this pin.
- Share this post with your friends on Facebook.
- The contest deadline is midnight EST on Friday, August 31,
2012.
- The winner must be a resident of the continental U.S.
- The winner will be selected by a random drawing.
- The winner will be announced in an update to this post and on
my Facebook page during the first week of September.
Cheers!
Julie
