To promote growing your own fruit and vegetables at home (what better way to reduce your food miles!), we've joined up with the Daily Echo to have a competition. Whether you have a windowsill, a few pots on a balcony, or a big beautiful garden, we want to see what you've managed to grow (and eat!). Plus, it's a great chance to show people how much can be done in a home garden to convince even more people to start growing their own. Beginners are certainly welcome--make sure you say in your entry form that you've only just developed your green thumb.
You can either e-mail your photos and entry information to Sally Churchward, features writer, at the e-mail address below, or you can pick up an entry form from a copy of the Daily Echo paper. Please see below for further information.
The three categories of Grow Your Own at Home 2009 are:
- No Garden - Balconies and windowsills, patios included but no more than 4 metres square.
- Container Garden - Where circumstances prevent you from planting in the ground.
- Home Garden - no larger than a quarter of an acre.
A shortlist of finalists within each category will be selected based on productivity. Final judging will look at: productivity, produce quality, sourcing of materials, cultivation methods, and innovation. All entrants must live within the Southern Daily Echo catchment area. The deadline for entries will be the 17th August 2009.
Prizes Available
1st Prize - Over £120 worth of prizes including:
- £60 Fairweather’s vouchers to be spent in their garden centre in Beaulieu;
- an organic classic herb collection or sunshine herbs delivered to your door for you to grow yourself worth £25 from the Kitchen Garden Company based in Exbury;
- Friends of Hampshire Fare membership worth £25. Benefits include savings and special offers while supporting the future of farming in Hampshire and the local rural economy
- Bag of peat-free Wool Compost from Dalefoot Composts, based in the Lake District, worth £10
2nd Prize - Over £50 worth of prizes including:
- £10 worth of herb, vegetable or fruit plants from the Kitchen Garden Company based in Exbury;
- The Transition Handbook donated by October Books in Portswood, worth £13
- Friends of Hampshire Fare membership worth £25 benefits include savings and special offers while supporting the future of farming in Hampshire and the local rural economy
- Bag of peat-free Wool Compost, worth £10
3rd Prize - Over £40 of prizes, including:
- Salad pot filled with cut and come again salad leaves and edible flowers from the Kitchen Garden Company. Will last for weeks and weeks.
- Friends of Hampshire Fare membership worth £25
- Bag of peat-free Wool Compost, worth £10
Everyone Wins!
Fairweather's Garden Centre in Beaulieu will supply every entrant with a packet of Sutton's Mixed Cut and Come Again Lettuce Seeds (subject to availibility).
How To Enter
