Little Sprouts and a Giveaway
March 9, 2010
I have a really hard time staying focused at Lowes, or any home improvement store for that matter. Asking me to go into a home improvement store and pick up only one particular thing is pretty much like asking a kid to ignore the cookie jar on the counter. It ain’t happening. I start meandering down aisles, dreaming up projects, then all of a sudden I’ve disappeared into a vortex. I’ve forgotten why I was there in the first place, daylight has disappeared, and they’ve sent out a search party.
Such is the story of this little purchase two weeks ago. I was at Lowes to purchase something simple like sanding pads, then before I knew it I was in the garden department again. It was there that a ‘Jiffy’ Greenhouse stared me down and beckoned me toward him. He somehow convinced me with his $6 dollar price tag and numbered tutorial that he needed me. Or I needed him. Apparently, I didn’t need to use the egg cartons I’ve used in the past to start my sprouts. This year, I needed a ‘Jiffy’ Greenhouse.
Tomatoes, basil, and delphinium are three of my favorite things to grow. So I thought I’d get a head start on a few of my garden essentials.
I watered the funny little soil pellets.
Planted my seeds. Got my fingers dirty.
Placed my greenhouse in the window, and ten days later – sprouts !
Will wonders never cease. :-)
Got any big plans for your garden this year ? Cause I’ve got three more six month premium memberships to Picnik for those who missed out on the last Picnik giveaway ! You can read my review of Picnik’s online photo editing program here.
How to be eligible to win one of the three premium memberships ? Simply answer this question: What is your favorite thing to grow in your garden ? If you lack a green thumb, you can still have a chance to win. Tell us your most favorite thing that grows period. Is it your neighbor’s roses ? A tree in your favorite park ? Your most favorite flower ? Spill the green beans, and I’ll choose three winners at random at the end of the week ! Then you’ll be on your way to enhancing your own photos of your garden all summer long.
[One entry per person please. Three winners chosen by Random.org. Giveaway ends Saturday March 13th at 8 p.m. PST.]
******* THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED ********
I am learning how to have a green thumb, only in planters. But I have 2 favorite flowers… hydrangea and peony. I am going to attempt peony bushes in my back yard this year.
I love to grow herbs that I can then use in my kitchen making my food taste wonderful! Funny thing though… I’m not much of a gardener except for my herbs but I do love my house plants!
Roses! I’m an English girl, and the English love their roses. The rosebushes I inherited with the house are nice, but they could be better. And will probably get some siblings in the near future :)
Exciting! I checked out Picnik after your last post and LOVE IT! My very favorite thing to grow in the garden is sugar peas… no, cherry tomatos… no, cinderella pumpkins… I love them all!Seeing those little green sprouts in your photo makes me want to run out right now and plant something. :)
I love those soil pellets! Looks like sushi. Dontcha think?
I don’t have a garden (wah!) because we have a herd of deer that live in our neighborhood (like seriously I counted 19 once). But my favorite thing that grows is hydrangea – would love to have some but, again, there’s the deer!
Sarah
Basil! Love to pair it with tomato for a lite summer salad.
I don’t know the technical name for them, but my grandmother grows wonderful orange tomatoes. I eat them until I’m ill.
when I finally move out of my apt into someplace with a plot of land, I can’t wait to grow onions!!
Another Picnik giveaway? Allllright!!!! :) My favorite thing to grow would be tomatoes. They “give back,” so to speak. ;) I do love my daffodils, tulips, azaleas, and hydrangea though. :)
My favorite flower to grow is peonies! I also love roses. As far as veggies, I love to grow carrots, cucumbers, green peppers & tomatoes for yummy summer salads! We still have snow on the ground here in Ohio but the weather is warming up****now!
not much of a gardener, but have spent many days dreaming of becoming one once Ramon and I say “I DO” this June.
Favorite thing that grows in a garden? It’s the peony that twinkles my toes!! =)
Oh the lovely garden, how I wish I had green thumbs instead of plant killing ones. I’m working on a herb garden-again. A freak snow killed my last herbs :(
Crocuses and primroses are my favourite things to plant. I love planting spring bulbs, crocuses are my favourite flower, and bringing home primroses from the shop in the early spring is a tradition.
Right now I’m growing Basil, Oregano, and Sunflowers. I’ve only ever gotten as far as having sprouts for sunflowers, but I would LOVE to get a full huge sunflower to harvest for seeds later. This is also my first time trying out herbs.
Basil for flavor. Day lillies so I can cut them and enjoy them on my kitchen table. Red geraniums purely because they make me smile.
I guess my favorite thing (s) to grow are sweet basil and cherry tomatoes. Add a little balsamic vinegar, pine nuts and some fresh mozzarella and I have enough to eat all summer…PLUS…anyone can grow them in pots…no garden required!
i love my rosebush. it was given to me in memory of my grandad and it seems to flower on special occasions which is weird…even christmas eve…?
Ooo. I hope I win! picnik premium would be a great tool!
My favorite thing to grow would be basil because it keeps a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’. Last year when we came home from a 2-week Europe trip our basil was fried, limp and dead. I watered it to see if I could revive it and it perked right back up. I am amazed at it’s resiliency in the FL heat! I also love our fragrant confederate jasmine along our fence-smells heavenly in the spring!
I pretty much love stalking everything in my garden; but tulips are super duper exciting because they’re the first thing to show up each year :)
That growing kit is now on my shopping list. This spring me and the hubby are planting sunflowers, Chamomile, Lettuce mix, and tomatoes.
I already have a premium membership and love picnik. They seriously help all my photos look extra fab. My favorite things to grow are impatiens. I have a terrible time keeping anything alive but these babies look great all summer into fall and are hardy!
I love to grow peonies because they are so gorgeous and because they were my grandfathers specialty in his garden. They bring back such great childhood memories!
Tomatos. Fresh out of the garden…YUM!
My husband is a rose gardener from way back, so I fell in love with them too. But I have a passion for true blue flowers and adore delphiniums, blue poppies (pretty rare), and other pure blue flowers. I also have to have my rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, basil, etc., etc…
I love my rose bushes…but my favorite by far is my “Ruby Rose” (that’s not its official name…we call it that b/c it originated at my Great Aunt Ruby’s house)…I took a clipping off my mom’s bush…which she got from a clipping off her mom’s…which she got from a clipping off her sister Ruby’s plant. On my wedding day six years ago, I wore one of these soft pink roses in my hair!!
Tomatoes and basil, delicious just picked. Can’t wait for summer!
I think I need to go to Lowe’s and get one of those cute little kits!!
I love planting my pots each year with potato vine, petunias, alyssum and geraniums.
For my garden I like to grow herbs especially basil cuz it always grows and you just can’t kill it!!
I know what you mean about trips to Lowe’s or Home Depot. I plan to cut back on my flowers and ferns this year – We will see. :)
I have been married for 11 years and we have yet to grow our own garden, though I would love to do it. Growing up, we always had a garden growing in the back. My favorite vegetable out of it would have to be OKRA! I love it fried and only fried! I could eat it like popcorn! YUM.
Rebekah {All Thingz Related}
Cherry tomatoes – My kids go out to the garden any time of the day and eat them straight off the vine and I never have to tell them no!
I love Picnik! I tried it out after reading your first post about it and it really does the trick. I would have to say my favorite thing to plant would be narcissus bulbs. I love how beautiful they look once they shoot up.
My husband is the one with the green thumb, but my favorite growing thing is a tree near our house. Because of some strange pruning, it grows in a big ‘Y’, with branches and leaves only at the ends of the ‘Y’. The leaves look like pom-poms to us and, as a result, we call it the cheerleader tree. Now it’s impossible for me to look at without being cheered up!
I planted some zinnia seeds over the weekend (I love zinnia), but I think they are old, so they may not sprout. :\ I’ll just have to wait and see!
I love cherry tomatoes – so delicious when you eat them right away! Now if I could only get basil to grow…
What a great giveaway! I know what you mean about Lowe’s or Home Depot. It’s like a candy store for adults! We just moved to Okinawa and I am sure missing my Lowe’s! I love growing anything, but herbs are my favorite! Nothing better than having fresh herbs for your cooking!
Alright so since your last Picnik giveaway I have very quickly become “obsessed” with it! My favorite thing to grow are veggies – cause I love to be able to walk out to the garden before dinner and just pick something to eat!
I love this giveaway!!
My favorite thing to grow is Goose-Neck Loose Strife, because it is so EASY to grow and looks great in simple arrangements.
Well right now nothing is growing in my garden…..but I’m excited to grow hot peppers, tomatoes, onions, herbs….carrots. lots of stuff!
I stink at growing things, but my fiancee has quite the green thumb, and I love his vegetable garden! Fresh spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions…YUM!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Red geraniums…. can not have enough hanging on the porch, in window boxes, in pots all over the place.. Did I say I Love them???
( & I am new to the Blogging world… not even a 1st post yet, I would LOVE, LOVE Picnik to learn some cool tricks ) Thanks for this chance!!!
ooh awesome giveaway! My favorite thing to grow is mint, basil & cherry tomatos!!
Easy…Roses. My Great-Grandfather was a rose farmer in Texas. Many years later I decided to try my luck with them, maybe it’s in the genes. I ended up with 157 bushes! We moved away and I was so sad to leave them. Maybe it’s time to start it up again. I also downloaded the Picasa and I love it, almost as much as I love your blog Kate ;-)
I love growing herbs!
I love it when my husband landscapes our front yard. It looks beautiful all spring/summer/fall. The only thing I’ve ever been able to grow is basil. I love using it in my cooking.
I love to grow daffodils. There’s nothing like seeing their bright cheery faces when spring finally hits after a long dreary winter!
My favorite thing to grow is tomatoes… you just can’t beat the flavor of a home grown tomato! It tastes like a completely different fruit than that red thing you buy in the store!
I love growing raspberries! They are so simple, you get more every year they are in the ground, and even two year olds can help. Which reminds me, I need to find a place to plant some at our new house!
Herbs. Oh they smell so good and are so pretty! Plus they’re hard to kill which is a plus for me :)
I LOVE peonies!
My salvias do the best. Great giveaway!
I love growing zuccini! I love freezing it and enjoying it all winter long!! I also love the lilacs that grow in our yard, and anything from my neighbors wonderful gardens!!!
I sure hope I win! I just got a new camera!!!
Avocados! There was a tree already in our home when we bought it and it has continued to provide us (and our friends and family) with lovely, creamy, buttery avocados for the last 6 years. Or rather, every other year. Love them!
oh my gosh, lowes did that to me too…i’ve actually hidden the jiffy green house from my husband, b/c he has been saving egg cartons for me. i have a fairly large backyard for denver, and had a garden last year, but planted all from seedlings…
this year i am going all out and doing everything from seed. so, we’ll see how that goes!
I am beyond excited that you are doing this again woot woot. I know this is an odd thing to love from our garden but we use more green onions than any family should lol so they win by a mile.
I get so easily lost in those stores, too. It’s a problem.
Favorite thing to grow in my garden? Anything with COLOR. Living in the desert makes me crave color!
nice information for inspiration my blog…nature
Our garden never seems to do well but I love to grow fresh herbs like basil and chives, balad greens and tomatoes. Nothing beats a fresh tomato except maybe fresh citrus but that doesn’t grow here!
I don’t have a green thumb when it comes to vegetables…at least I don’t know if I do since I have never tried. But I do love to grow pretty flowers like geraniums and petunias.
I LOVE fresh tomatoes!!! Nothing better!
I love picking new flowers every year to experiment with. Last summer I planted pots of wildflowers all around my patio, it was beautiful. This year…undecided as of yet. Any suggestions?
Daffodils are my favorite flower, but I also love dogwood trees and azaleas. All remind me of my house growing up!
purple beans and snow peas are a fav garden item in our house!
I buy my husband one of those little greenhouse things and seeds every year…he is the gardener in our house. My favorite thing is our tulip garden. We get unique tulips bulbs in Holland, MI and they are gorgeous. I’m waiting for them to start coming up!
Our Citrus trees! They are so pretty and yummy!
I don’t have a green thumb, but this year I am trying to grow tulips. I planted them in the fall, so I am hoping that I get to see some beautiful flowers soon!
My favorite thing growing is the rose bushes and plum tree (in my neighbors yard) It hangs over and well nobody has lived there for over 2 years so I’m lovin it!
I love gardening period! Roses, flowers, veggies. I love herbs- basil especially. Have you every had Zwie bread toasted – spread a little cream cheese on top then sprinkle fresh cut up basil and a little salt- just doesn’t get any better than that!!
I have yet to grow a garden (my goal this year though!) but I did plant some Rosemary bushes in my front yard and they smell heavenly. I love them. I tried planting some flowers as well, but my chickens got to them… :)
I love growing zinnias. Fool-proof and fun for the kids. They make for great cutting flowers.
My roses are beautiful! They are David Austin roses and they are my favorite.
I don’t really have much of a green thumb and live in an apartment but I do live in South Texas and love to see the bluebonnets when they bloom. The are just the prettiest shade of blue to see everywhere.
my favorite thing to grow are tomatoes…green ones, red ones, purple ones, i don’t discriminate :)
This will be my first real summer in my brand new house and I’m SOOO excited to start a garden!!! The thought of fresh, off the vine tomatoes just thrills me! Plus, I have plans for all sort of yummy smelling things too — lavendar, lilacs, honeysuckle…. oh man!!! SPRING NEEDS TO HURRY UP!!!
I love spicy foods, so peppers are high on my list. I would also love an avocado tree someday
This year is the first year I will be starting my own garden. I can’t wait to grow tomatoes, beans, strawberries, I’m willing to try everything. My favorite thing to grow is my hydrangea’s though. So beautiful!
I love planting vegetables in our Earthboxes and flowers and vines everywhere else!! Yesterday at Lowe’s I bought some large bottle gourd seeds and ornamental mixture gourd seeds. We will see how they fare in sunny Florida!
Oh, I love my neighbor’s cucumbers and tomatoes because he always grows FAR TOO MANY and gives tons of them to my husband and I =)
My favorite things to grow has to be tomatoes — but the thing I grow the most is basil. VERY RARELY will you find me without a potted basil plant blooming — even in the middle of winter! Sighs for this year however, our sun room is under construction and I had to move all of my plants into the main part of the house because they got really chilly so I have had to hold off on planting more basil due to lack of sunlight inside — so I cant wait for it to be warm enough to plant them (it wont be long)!
Hmmm…my favorite thing to grow in the garden? Definitely my Brandywine tomatoes – never have I tasted a tomato so divine! No, green beans. I mean is there anything more wonderful than a pot of green beans from the garden. Well, corn maybe. Or cilantro to make the world’s best salsa ever. Uh uh. It has to be basil. I mean, c’mon – who doesn’t love fresh pesto. Are you serious that you really expect me to pick? That’s like a cruel form of torture…
My two favorite things to grow are strawberries and grape tomatoes. I am a novice gardener, even though I have been doing all my life! I can’t seem to get things to grow well . . .
Flowers of any kind. Coneflowers, roses, black-eyed susans, zinnias, you name it.
My favorite has to be tomatoes, so good for salads or just eating off the vine!
I don’t NOT have a green thumb but I will be trying this year. My favorite thing is Cilantro. YUM!!
I am dying to plant a garden for the first time this year and I love tomatoes!
Tulips!!! Absolutely the most beautiful and perfect flower to me!! So bright and happy! I’m watching the ground eagerly right now for the first signs of green popping through. That’s when I *really* start to get excited for spring! :)
I love to grow tomatoes!!! So ready to eat some fresh straight from the garden soon!
I don’t have a green thumb but want to try my hand at growing herbs this year. This win would help! And I LOVE hydrangeas and all the ones I have planted have done well in my yard, thankfully. I also have had good luck w/ my (yellow) Lady Bank’s roses that grow at the front of my yard, by the road. I love those too!
Thanks,
Reid
The only thing I’ve ever grown was mint…I mash it up and put it in lemonade, add it to balsamic glazed strawberries and even use it for my special yogurt-mint sauce! I’m a little short on space but I would love to add more herbs and possibly some tomatoes on my patio.
We have two garden boxes and grow peppers, tomatoes, strawberries and herbs. My favorite thing of all has to be cilantro. I live in Texas and breathe Mexican food. I could eat it daily. The cilantro dies when it gets hot so I use it all spring long and then when it pops back up in the fall. It even pops up outside of the boxes. And I use all of it.
I LOVE to garden but since we live in a rental our landlord won’t allow us to have a garden. :-( I have a pretty green thumb though & grow LOTS of plants inside my house. My favorite plant woud have to be my curly bamboo plant. I’ve had it for 5 years now, it’s moved across the country with me & it’s nearly tripled it’s size since I got it. I absolutely love it! I water it, talk to it & clean it’s beautiful leaves when it gets dusty. It’s been a wonderful addition to our home.
I love to grow flowers because I don’t seem to make enough time for veggies or herbs. My favorite flowers are hyacinths because of their delicious aroma! Thanks for the chance to win.
I absolutely love to grow Dahlias and Hydrangeas. They are my favorite flowers of all time.
I love gardening, I just don’t love eating what I grow in my garden, but my family and friends do! I love to grow cucumbers, peppers and guards. I can’t wait for the weather to warm up here in MN so that I can get my garden going and check on it daily! Only a few months away!
My husband and I just moved into a new house with a great yard! We will be planting our very first garden this summer and I am very excited. I plan on mixing herb plants in with the flower beds and also doing a small veggie garden.
I have a few plants in my house that I love… my two favorites are “Jerry” the jade plant and my ZZ plant. they are thriving!
I love to grow strawberries and blueberries…they’re low maintenance and have pretty little flowers in the spring. The only problem I find is the birds like them too!
I love growing fresh basil. I use it all summer long and it’s fresh whenever I need it!
Nothing like homegrown tomatoes…but I love to take pictures of flowers.
I love growing flowers, and am planning on planting loads of them this Spring! I also love to grow pumpkins, but our deer always smash them so it doesn’t always work out!
Kate ~ My goal this month is to start growing Wheatgrass which we have never grown before. Any suggestions?
Our garden brings me many wonderful veggies, berries and cantaloupe…but I have to say my most favorite is the zucchini!! I have an incredible recipe for Chocolate Zucchini cake that is by far one of the best cakes we have ever enjoyed.
Thanks again for the cool give-away.
I don’t have one particular thing I like to grow. I just love to watch all my plants grow. We just bought a house and ripped out most of the plants (they died during some rough freezing nights and some others were just straggly). I’m anxious to plant some new plants and trees and watch them grow! I think I might also try to plant a tomato plant this year, in a container. I don’t have a garden area.