The Contest is now closed. Please check the TCGN website for winning details.

 

Great Garden Search Contest

Show the world that Toronto is a Community Gardening leader by helping us unearth our hidden gems!

The Toronto Community Garden Network (TCGN) is pleased to announce The Great Garden Search of 2010, a contest to find community gardens across the City of Toronto. The contest includes Etobicoke, Toronto, City of York, East York, North York and Scarborough, and it will appeal to scavenger hunters, neighborhood buffs, garden enthusiasts, and anyone who likes a challenge, while at the same time helping TCGN to document all of these hidden gems.

Why this contest?
TCGN wants to put Toronto on the map as one of the world’s leaders in community gardening. In order to do that we need to show how many community gardens we have covering this entire city: Etobicoke, Toronto, City of York, East York, North York and Scarborough.

What are community gardens?
Community gardens are places where people come together to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, families, and friendships. Community gardens are run by communities for communities, and can be organized in any way that the community decides.

Personal gardens are not eligible in this contest. Gardens must involve 3 or more households and cannot be in a residential backyard.

How to Participate:

• To participate in the contest look at the Community Gardens Map that TCGN has listed on their website. Then, walk around, use google maps, search high and low, to find community gardens that are NOT listed on the website.
• When you find new gardens email your entries to Norma Dickinson
• Contact: Norma Dickinson Email: norma@foodshare.net or phone (416)363-6441 ext. 279
• In your email or phone call please include:
  1. Your Name:
     
  2. Your email or phone number:
     
  3. Name of Garden (if applicable):
     
  4. Location of Garden (including address if possible):
     
  5. Nearest Intersection
     
  6. Garden Contact Information.
     

How to win:

• The grand prize will go to the participant who finds the largest number of gardens that are not on the TCGN website.
• Bonus points will be awarded for gardens with garden contact information. i.e. garden coordinator’s name, email address, website or phone number but you must have gardener’s permission to give contact information to TCGN.

Contest Rules:

• Anyone and everyone is welcome to participate.
• The contest runs from March 1 - May 14, 2010.
• Winners will be announced on the TCGN website on May 17, 2009 and in TCGN's June 2010 enews
  
• Gardens must be between Steeles Avenue and Lake Ontario, and between the Rouge River and Highway 27 to be eligible.
  
• If garden contact information is being provided, it must be either publicly available or the contest participant must have permission to provide it.
  
• Personal gardens are not eligible. Only community gardens are eligible. Gardens must involve 3 or more households and cannot be in residential backyards.

Prizes:
The contest winner, and the runners up, will be announced on Monday May 17, 2010.

• The Grand Prize is $150
• First Runner up: two Living Food Boxes

And additional Runners up will also win fantastic prizes like:

• Fiskars garden shears-titanium blade coating
• Books - Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail, autographed by the author - and Book - Real Food for a Change, by Wayne Roberts
• A Garden Essentials Gift basket - and a Book - Real Food For a Change, by Wayne Roberts
• Book - The Vegetable Gardener's Bible, by Edward C. Smith
• Books - Teaming with Microbes: Organic Gardener's Guide to Soil Food Web, by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis and another Book - Composting for Dummies - and a Rain Gauge
• Books - Sustainable Landscaping for Dummies, by Owen E. Dell and another Book - Perenial Companions, by Tom Fischer
• Books - Organic Gardening for Dummies, by Ann Whitman et al Suzanne DeJohn and The Editors of the National Gardening Association - and another Book - Vegetable Gardening for Dummies, by Charlie Nardozzi et al The Editors of The National Gardening Association
• Books - 50 High-Impact, Low-Care Garden Plants, by Tracy Disabato-Aust - and another book - Container Gardening: Design ideas for rooftops, balconies, terraces, and more, by Vicki Webster and Editors of Sunset Books
• Books - Complete Guide to Houseplants, by Miracle-Gro - and - Enjoy Gardening, by Jim Hole - and - Get a Life, by Wayne Roberts
• Books - How Does Your Garden Grow - A guide to Community Garden Success by Laura Berman- and Book - Get a Life, by Wayne Roberts, - and - Sprout Your Own Leafy Vegetables: Complete mini garden kit with seeds and peat pellets and planters
• A bag with Herbed Vinegars - and a Book - The Family Kitchen Garden: How to Plant, Grow and Cook Together - by Karen Liebreich, Jutta Wagner and Annette Wendland

Thank you to FoodShare, Live Green Toronto, Gayla Trail, Zora Ignjatovic, and Laura Berman for generously donating these prizes.

About Toronto Community Garden Network (TCGN):
TCGN (www.tcgn.ca) works to encourage a healthy gardening movement in Toronto, supporting and linking community gardeners. TCGN advocates for better community garden policy, supports gardens and hosts gardening events such as Seedy Saturday, Garden potlucks, information and sharing events, and community bus tours.

About FoodShare
FoodShare (www.foodshare.net) is one of many member organizations in TCGN. FoodShare is a Toronto non-profit community organization whose vision is Good Healthy Food for All. Founded 25 years ago to address hunger in our communities, FoodShare takes a unique multifaceted and long-term approach to hunger and food issues. We work to empower individuals, families and communities through food-based initiatives, while advocating for the broader public policies needed to ensure that everyone has adequate access to sustainably produced, good healthy food. Working "from field to table," we focus on the entire system that puts food on our tables: from the growing, processing and distribution of food to its purchasing, cooking and consumption. FoodShare's programs reach over 145,000 children and adults every single month across the city of Toronto and countless others across Canada, bringing them fresh, nutritious, affordable food, and cultivating the knowledge and skills that build healthy communities.

Contact:

Norma Dickinson, Community Network Facilitator
Phone: 416-363-6441 ext 279
Email: norma@foodshare.net