Dear Kitchen Gardener,

The envelope please!  We're delighted to announce the winners of our second annual "Grow-Off Show-Off".  We were impressed with the quality, creativity, and diversity of entries which came from gardeners big and small on five continents.  Among them were home gardeners, seed savers, school gardeners, community gardeners, garden bloggers, garden podcasters, garden YouTubers (which is a very different species from the plain 'ol garden tuber) and even a video entry from a Japanese man for whom the term "home-grown broccoli" is literally music to his ears. 

It was a challenge narrowing the field to five winners.  In fact, we didn't manage to do it and ended up picking six with two tying for first place.  So, here they are:

1. Centro Escolar Los Gramales (The Gramales Scholastic Center); Gualococti, Morazan, El Salvador (Grand Prize Tie, $250 donated by Mother Earth News).
Gargy Shiksha Sadan; Kathmandu, Nepal (Grand Prize Tie, $250 donated by Mother Earth News).
2. Jennifer Hill; Danbury, Conn. (2nd Prize, a portable tiller/cultivator donated by Mantis).
3. Christopher Brandow; Pasadena, Calif. (3rd Prize, eco-friendly gear from Patagonia).
4. The Hills and Plains Seed Savers; Adelaide, South Australia (4th Prize, a $100 gift certificate to Johnny’s Selected Seeds).
5. The Children’s Garden at Kachina Country Day School; Paradise Valley, Ariz. (5th Prize, organic fertilizer from Neptune’s Harvest).

Many thanks to our partners at Mother Earth News for their support and help in getting the word out about the contest.  We'd also like to thank our sponsors for chipping in some great prizes.  We're hoping to make this year's contest bigger and better, so keep your eyes and ears open for information about that later this spring when we announce the launch.

One touching footnote to last year's contest came in the form of an e-mail from Kate Flint of the Hills and Plains Seed Savers of Australia who won 4th prize.  Kate and friends were so moved by last month's newsletter about KGI's school garden project in Buenos Aires that they donated their gift certificate to the people carrying out the project so as to give them some seeds to go with their brand new gardens.  It makes for a nice story when a group of Australian gardeners can donate seeds from an American seed company to help out some Argentinian gardeners just getting started with a school garden.  

Speaking of that, KGI is looking for other projects where we can put our network to good use.  We mentioned in our last newsletter that we're working to become a "gardeners helping gardeners" network.  We would like to be in touch with groups in need of assistance (or people who are aware of such groups). To be clear, we do not have wheelbarrows full of money, but we do have technical expertise in garden and project planning and would be willing to work with project partners to help develop their projects.  I've included some criteria below for the types of partners and projects we have in mind. Don't hesitate to contact us if you know of a project or a group that you think could be a good fit for us.

I'll look forward to updating you next month through our usual eclectic mix of topics including a look at gardening during hard economic times.  We'll also tiptoe into US presidential politics by giving some suggestions to the remaining candidates on how they can secure the powerful "garden vote" :-)

Until then, happy gardening (or seed starting) and bon appétit,

What we're looking for in project partners:

- Some type of track record, previous experience, references
- Has the minimal technical skills and knowledge needed to carry out and maintain project
- Is able invest own resources - financial and/or inkind - in project
- Has capacity to communicate and provide information as needed
- Is willing to share the grant in some way (i.e. by sharing the knowledge gained with others in their community)

-Can be located anywhere in the world

What we're looking for in projects:
- Fits with KGI mission of empowering people to achieve greater levels of food self-reliance

- Project proposal demonstrates community interest in and need for partnership (demand driven)
- Results in sustainable change (community willing and able to sustain, project is designed for sustainability)
- Generates learning which others can replicate
- Is cost-effective
- Enables KGI to learn about community needs and provides feedback for future projects