The Quickest Way to Enter
The quickest way to enter the giveaway:
- Leave a comment on this blog post that shares an entertaining gardening experience.
- Send an email that includes a mailing address and the email address you used on the comment form. Click this link to send the email.
Read the rest of the post for instructions on how to increase your chances of winning the tools and receiving free seeds.
This giveaway ends on Friday, February 15 at midnight.
This year’s seed giveaway once again features the chili-pepper-shaped paste tomatoes descended from two fruits given to me by an area farmer some seven years ago. These have very little liquid and they taste great raw or cooked.
Winter break is OVER! From Thanksgiving until last weekend it seems I made at least two road trips a week. We had kids returning from college, kids heading off to other countries, kids returning to college, and kids coming back to school in Lewisburg. I also visited my Dad in Ithaca along the way, and participated in a few trade shows. I hope your holidays were as fulfilling!
And now for the annual seed giveaway – with a chance to win two excellent pruners from Corona Tools!
My Food in Your Garden
I love to share things that grow in my garden. To that end, I’ll package and mail seeds to as many people as I can – until I run out from last year’s harvest. I’ll write about the seed varieties in the box titled, A Seed Set Package. Happily, this year I’m also giving away two pruners from Corona Tools. Corona generously gave me these pruners and It’s great to be able to pass them along to one of my readers.
Corona Tools is very generous and engaged with the online gardening community. They provided me with several sets of pruners, and I’m happy to be able to pass some along to readers of Your Small Kitchen Garden. I use both styles – always slipping one into a pocket when I head out to the garden – and would recommend them even without the generous gift from Corona.
Here’s how to enter the giveaway:
How to Enter the Small Kitchen Garden 2015 Seed and Tool Giveaway
There will be multiple winners of the seed giveaway but only one winner of the Corona Tools pruners. Each winner of seeds will receive a set of seeds as explained in the box titled A Seed Set Package. Between January 22, 2015, and February 15, 2015, I’ll build a mailing list of people who request seeds. After February 15, 2015, I’ll mail seed sets to each qualified entry according to the list order until I run out of seed sets. Entrants influence the list order by participating according to instructions under the title, The Rules below.
The Corona Tools prize will go to the person whose comment most entertains the judges – the judges being Daniel and his wife. Note: Stories about failed or damaged crops risk being seen as sad rather than entertaining. Just sayin’.
Completing steps 3 and 4 are critical for entering the giveaway!
Neck pumpkins are popular in central Pennsylvania. These are essentially giant butternut squashes though with a slightly milder flavor. The one in front weighs about 18 lbs and is a descendent of a squash that weighed 20 lbs. The giveaway includes five seeds from this family line of squashes.
The Rules
1. This giveaway ends on Friday, February 15 at midnight. As of February 16, no new entries or mailing list “bumps” are valid.
2. To enter the giveaway, complete items 3 and 4. That’s all it takes; you can stop there if you don’t want to read the rest of the rules (though all the rules apply whether or not you read them).
3. Secure a spot on the seed mailing list and enter to win the Corona tools by leaving a comment on this blog post (use the comment form below). Share an amusing gardening experience in the comment – the more amusing the comment, the better your chances of winning the tools (note that stories of crop failures and other gardening losses may sadden the judges rather than amuse them). The Corona Tools pruners will go to whatever garden story most amuses the judges (Daniel and his wife Stacy). ALSO COMPLETE STEP 4!
4. Send an email with a mailing address AND the email address you used on the comment form (so I know which is you). That’s all you need to do for a chance to get seeds and to win the tools! Click here to send email.
If you’ll be “bumping” (explained below) your free seeds entry, include your twitter handle and/or facebook name in the email so I can spot your bumps. If you decide to post on your blog (see below), include a link to your blog so I can have a look.
There is one prize of Corona Tools pruners. Submitting a comment and emailing your address enters you to win the tools; no further activity affects your chances of winning that prize. Read on if you want to improve your chances to receive a seed set.
Sweet pepper roulette! I grew terrific orange bell and sweet Italian peppers in 2014 (the photo shows that even the bugs liked my peppers). I saved seeds, but the labels got mixed up so the only way you’ll know what type of peppers they came from is to grow some to maturity. Fun, yes?
Doing steps #3 and #4 gets you onto the end of the mailing list for seeds. With no further rules, I’d deliver first-come-first-served until I’m out of seed sets. That’d be too easy. Here are ways to improve your odds of getting a seed set (again, doing any of these things in no way affects your chances of winning the Corona Tools pruners):
5. Tweet a link to this giveaway (on Twitter) that includes the hash tag #skgseeds15.
6. Post a link to this giveaway on Facebook and include the hash tag #skgseeds15.
7. Post a link to this giveaway on Google+ and include the hash tag #skgseeds15.
A single daily post on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ moves you up one space on the mailing list. So, posting on all three services in a day moves you up three slots; you cannot move up more than three slots in a day except for a one-time bump explained in item 8:
8. On Pinterest, Pin the photo of the tomato from the top of this post that includes the 2015 Seed Giveaway title. Include the #skgseeds15 hash tag in the pin’s description and you’ll move up 2 slots on the mailing list. THIS IS A ONE-TIME BUMP. While I’d love for you to pin the photo on multiple boards, I’ll count only a single pinning within the giveaway period toward your position on the mailing list.
This table was covered with heirloom tomatoes in my dining room all summer; I harvest tomatoes when they just start to ripen and let them finish indoors. For each seed set I mail, I’ll select one variety from this table and include at least eight seeds. I especially like the Moonglows, the Emerald Greens, and the Stupice tomatoes and will try to write about them soon in another post. I also have a story to tell about my Cherokee Purple tomatoes (one of my plants produced red tomatoes last year) and another story about green sausage tomatoes.
I’ll monitor the #skgseeds15 hash tag on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. If I can match your posts to the email address in your original comment on this blog, you’ll move up on the mailing list.
8. Here’s a shortcut: Invite your blog’s readers to this seed giveaway with a link from your blog, and you’ll have my gratitude. Also, I’ll move you to the front of the mailing list after any other bloggers who have already posted on their blogs. I’ll mail seeds to all bloggers (in the order that they post) before I mail to anyone else on the list.
At Least Get on the List!
Sure, it’s complicated… but not so hard if you stick to steps 3 and 4: leave an amusing comment here, and send email with your mailing address. TO RECEIVE SEEDS, YOU MUST PROVIDE A POSTAL ADDRESS!
Keep in Touch
After I mail out seeds, I’d love to hear from you. Please take photos or write descriptions of what you grow and post them in a comment—or link to them, or email copies. With your permission, I’ll share your progress updates with my readers.
This giveaway is open only to people in the United States and Canada.
A Seed Set Package
A complete seed set for the giveaway described in this post includes the following:
Paste Tomatoes— At least 8 seeds to grow exceptional chili-pepper-shaped paste tomatoes. Some six years ago, a local retired farmer gave me two of these unusual tomatoes. He told me to save and plant the seeds and I’d be glad I did. I am glad, and I enjoy sharing these delicious and versatile tomatoes with anyone who will grow them. These may be Cornue Des Andes tomatoes.
My Choice of Tomatoes— Have a look at the photo of tomatoes on a table (above). I’ll select one heirloom variety from among those tomatoes and include at least 8 seeds in a seed set.
Sweet Pepper Roulette— My seed labels got mixed up so I don’t know which of my saved seeds are for Sweet Italian peppers, and which are for Orange Bell peppers. I’ll include at least 8 pepper seeds in each seed set. The seeds may produce all Orange Bells, all Sweet Italians, or some combination of both. Either way, they grow delicious sweet peppers.
Neck Pumpkin— Five seeds to plant one hill of neck pumpkins. These are descended from a 20 pound squash I bought five years ago at a farmers’ market. Also called Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck Squash, Neck Pumpkin resembles butternut squash on steroids. It’s a regional favorite in central Pennsylvania and favored for pumpkin pies.