Contests. Contests. They’re everywhere. Athletes have the Olympics. Singers have American Idol. Survivors have, well, Survivor. Heck, even bakers have the Pillsbury Bake-Off. But what about us kitchen gardeners? We have talents too (aside from compost pile turning and pesto-making, that is) and it’s time we celebrated them.
The Grow-Off Show-Off is a light-hearted, no-holds-barred talent contest for gardeners who cook, cooks who garden, and other garden-variety foodies. We’re looking for fresh, creative entries that communicate the multiple benefits – health, environmental, culinary, and community - of home-grown, home-made foods.
The Grow-Off Show-Off is a project of Kitchen Gardeners International and is co-sponsored by Mother Earth News .
What may I enter into competition?
We’re really open to just about any type of entry. Last year’s winner, Jennifer Love of Kentucky, entered her minivan, well not the van itself which she explained to us that she still needed, but photos of it bedecked in gardening pictures and slogans. Others entered yard signs and digital art posted on the web. This year, we’re opening the floodgates wide open, so let your creative juices flow!
We’re looking for high-impact, engaging entries that are capable of reaching a large audience, either through the power of the internet or through direct person-to-person contact. While we like being entertained, we’re also open to more serious, food-for-thought entries about the food we eat and the many reasons for shortening the distance between field and fork, plot and plate.
Here are a few ideas to get your creative neurons firing: • Do you have a high profile garden, front-yard garden, community garden or school garden with lots of foot traffic and salivating, hungry gawkers? Enter that by sending us a picture or two and telling us how your garden is having an impact in your community. • Are you a budding young filmmaker, animator or Youtuber? Enter your home-grown online video or animation by letting us know where it’s posted and what people are saying about it. • Are you a musician, singer, rapper, or slam poet? Enter a video or audio recording of you performing your original garden-themed composition and tell us how many people have heard you perform it (eg. I performed my original song “I’ve got the tasteless, supermarket tomato blues” at this year’s state fair before 1000 screaming, brandywine-loving fans). • Do you like to make people laugh? Film yourself doing a stand-up comedy routine in your garden and post it online. Tell us about your day-to-day battles with the neighborhood woodchuck and how you finally managed to outsmart him. • Are you a muralist or some other type of artist? Enter a photo of your garden-themed artwork and tell us where it is on display and how it’s getting people to think about food and gardens in a new way.
