What’s a Grow-Off Show-Off?
Contests. Contests. They’re everywhere. Athletes have the Olympics. Singers have American Idol. Heck, even bakers have the Pillsbury Bake-Off. But what about us kitchen gardeners? We have talents too (aside from weeding and compost pile turning, that is) and it’s time we shared them with the world!

The Grow-Off Show-Off is a light-hearted, no-holds-barred talent contest for gardeners sponsored by Kitchen Gardeners International in partnership with Mother Earth News. We’re looking for fresh, creative entries that communicate why kitchen gardening, like cabbage loopers, is a bug worth catching.

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 plot and plate.

Here are a few ideas to get your creative neurons firing:
• Do you have a high profile garden frontyard 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 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).
• 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 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.

What can I win?
The Grand Prize is $500 in cash donated by Mother Earth News
2nd prize is a powerful, yet portable garden tiller donated by Mantis
3rd prize is an assortment of eco-friendly clothing donated by Patagonia
4th prize is a $100 gift certificate donated by Johnny’s Selected Seeds
5th prize is a gallon of organic fertilizer concentrate donated by Neptune’s Harvest
Winning entries will receive national media exposure through this website and a feature article in Mother Earth News in 2008.

All entrants will receive a free one-year membership in Kitchen Gardeners International and a free 6-month subscription to Mother Earth News.

Judging Criteria
Entries will be judged on the following basis:
• Style: How fresh and creative is the entry?
• Substance: How well does the entry help communicate the multiple benefits – health, environmental, culinary, and community - of home-grown and locally-grown foods?
• Impact and outreach: How many people experienced or are experiencing the entry? Has the garden or gardener received any media (print, TV, radio, online) attention? Does the entry include any reference back to KGI or the contest via a mention of one of our URLs (igrowfood.com, wegrowfood.com, kitchengardeners.org, or growoffshowoff.org)?
• X-factor: How do all the elements above come together into a deliciously effective whole?

How to enter:
Entries must be received by 5pm Eastern Time, November 1, 2007. All entries must be submitted using the official entry form and submitted either by e-mail to info@kitchengardeners.org or by snailmail to Kitchen Gardeners International, 3 Powderhorn Drive, Scarborough, Maine, 04074, USA. E-mail and early entries are encouraged. We will start sharing entries as we receive them via the contest website.