Grow-Off, Show-Off Contest Winners

Image Gallery Grand Prize tie, the Gramales Scholastic Center in Gualococti, Morazan, El Salvador. COURTESY LOUISE LILLER

Gardeners are famous for their modesty, often tucking their plots in back yards and other out-of-the-way places. The Grow-Off, Show-Off is an annual contest that celebrates people and projects working to raise the profile of kitchen gardens and introduce more people to the multiple benefits of homegrown foods.

Organized by the nonprofit group, Kitchen Gardeners International, in partnership with Mother Earth News, this year’s Grow-Off attracted entries from across the globe. The judges were struck both by their diversity and their similarities. The budding local foods revolution, it would seem, is indeed a global one.

More Than Just Beans & Rice

Centro Escolar Los Gramales (The Gramales Scholastic Center); Gualococti, Morazan, El Salvador (Grand Prize Tie, $250 donated by Mother Earth News). Aiming to add vegetables to the typical community diet of beans, rice and tortillas, the school started a kitchen garden with tomatoes, peppers and pipian, a type of squash. After witnessing the great success of their organic garden, many local parents are now beginning to compost and garden with their children at home.

Ultra-High-Altitude Gardening

Gargy Shiksha Sadan; Kathmandu, Nepal (Grand Prize Tie, $250 donated by Mother Earth News). In this cold region dominated by yak farming, a lack of fertile land means few food crops, resulting in malnutrition for many people. This kitchen garden program was launched by Sumitra Pande to improve the health of the community. The two women shown at right are working in their new cauliflower field.

Spreading the Hilladay Cheer

Jennifer Hill; Danbury, Conn. (Second Prize, a portable tiller/cultivator donated by Mantis). Hill inspires new gardeners to take up the trowel by sharing tips and recipes, plus new and unusual kitchen garden varieties from her garden at hilladay.blogspot.com.