There are now three options! You may continue to sign up for The Original Growing Challenge below, or you my sign up for The Growing Challenge Advanced Edition: From Seed To Seed or The Growing Challenge Evangelist Edition (click those links for details)!
The Original Growing Challenge
Welcome! I began this challenge in January 2008, at Elements In Time: Creating Edible Landscape (my first blog), thinking that for a variety of reasons, it was time to gather together and learn to grow more food. Well, apparently lots of others felt the same way, and we quickly became a great, supportive community of food gardeners!! We have fun together, learn from one another, boast about our harvests, and occasionally we cry on each others’ shoulders when things just don’t work out. And then we pick ourselves up, and start again!
Please feel free to join us any time.
Here are the Rules of The Growing Challenge:
#1
Grow one additional type of fruit or vegetable than you did last year, and grow it from seed. If you’ve never grown anything, well, grow one thing! If you’ve never grown beans or carrots or lettuce or strawberries, try one of those…. And if you don’t have a garden, you can grow in a pot or on a window sill – see Gardening 101: Ordering Seeds for links about how. The goal is to push ourselves to grow a little more food than we have before.
#2
If rule #1 is not enough of a challenge for you, you may make your own rules. For example, I’m going to grow two fruits and three veggies more than I did last year.
#3
Post about gardening once each week. This could be a post about researching different plants, ordering seeds, buying pots, digging beds, planting the seeds, pruning, adding compost, all the way to preparing a meal that includes the food you grew. Please include “Growing Challenge” in the name of the posts – and/or have a Growing Challenge tag in your sidebar – so we can all find them! Also, if you link to this page, the trackback function will list all our posts together right here, for easy access. (If you don’t have a blog, feel free email me a blurb about your gardening progress and/or leave a comment in the weekly Growing Challenge Check-Ins.)
#4
Check In. Every week I will write a check-in post at 1 Green Generation. Please come comment and let everyone know what you’re up to – this is a really great way to learn from one another!!
#5
When signing up, make sure to include your zone and where you’re located. (Find your zone: U.S., Australia, Canada, Europe, South America, China. For other regions, I don’t have links so give it your best guess.)
#6
Let me know in the comments below** if you’re joining in the fun!
If you ever have questions or anything else comes up, please email me!
Doodad:
To add the button to your blog, right-click on the image and save it to your desktop. Then upload it to your blog as you would any other image, with a link to:
http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?page_id=41
Oh, and once you’ve uploaded the image, check to make sure the link works and the image loads correctly. Feel free to email me if you have any problems and I’ll see if I can help. Sorry I can’t host the button – my bandwidth has been eaten up by the little logo – who knew!
Growing List of Participants:
- LimeSarah, Suburban Entwife
- Tameson O’Brien, Tameson’s Musing
- Green Bean, Green Bean Dreams
- Laura, Urban Hennery
- Simply Belinda, Belinda’s Place
- Melissa
- Ali, Our Patch
- Lisa, The Tin House
- Idaho Locavore, Simply Local Idaho
- Sweets, Sweet Southern Knits
- The Happy Housewife, The Lucky G
- Tracy, Sunny Corner Farm
- Jayedee, Life in the Lost World…
- Leanne, At the Good Life
- Ellen, Ellen’s Grind
- Ivy, Shakadoo
- Rejin, Urban Botany
- Meg, Future House Farm
- Emily, Eat Close to Home
- Kimberly, Sunshine Alternative Mama
- Pattie, FoodShed Planet
- Kerry, Wicked Flavory
- Farm Mom, Children In The Corn
- Rebecca, Sticks and Stones
- TamaraC
- Kory, Kicking and Screaming
- dancingfatcat
- Jenny, Seeded
- Diana, Thane’s Neck Farm
- The Forge Village Farmer, The Edible Landscape Project
- Sarah Gilbert, Cafe Mama
- Lisa, Natural Gardening
- Lori (my sister!), Life in Webster Groves
- Mel, Green Gringa
- Hannah, The Purloined Letter
- SegoLily, Media Knits
- Andrea, Heavy Petal
- Teacher A, Teacher Anonymous
- Emma, Fluffius Muppetus
- Craig, Harvistry
- Tracey, Life in Sugar Hollow
- Kristi, Not So Crafty
- Curtis, Growing Thumbs
- Anthony, The Compost Bin
- Late Bloomer, Soccer Moms and Single Chicks
- Gina, My Skinny Garden
- The Cheap Vegetable Gardener
- Neil Pedersen, Petrogy
- Dave, The Home Garden
- Kate, Hills and Plains Seedsavers
- Susan Harris, GardenRant
- Christina, A Thinking Stomach
- Jen, Emerald Sunshine
- Maltagirl, Shenanigans
- Daharja, Cluttercut
- Shibaguyz, Life with the Shibaguyz
- Jonathan, Votiso’s World
- Doug, SeedTraderDug
- Diane, Peaceful Acres
- Danielle, Savor Culture
- Carmen, Who Me? The Adventures of Hippy Goodwife
- Janet, Rainy Day Gardening
- Sarah Z, Ward Road Garden
- Mark, Garden Desk
- Tanny, LocalEating.ca
- Tom, My Simple Home Garden
- Shawna, This Is Me
- Colleen, In the Garden Online
- Lissa, Confabulation
- Tina, Taming The Garden
- Summer, The Tao Of Summer
- Earth Heart, From My Homestead
- Julie Artz, ChezArtz.com
- Lara, The Crone At Wits End
- Melanie, Old Country Gardens
- Top Veg, Top Veg
- Jocele, Knitting On Call
- Kate, Inner City Garden
- PumpkinPatch
- Vickie, In The Acorn
- Angelina, Dustpan Alley
- Hatchet, Woman With A Hatchet
- Can I Eat It?
- Graziana, Erbe En Cucina
- Lisa, The Tardy Homemaker
- Ceara, Garden of Eatin’
- Britt, Britt’s News
- Kelly, My Garden Plot
- Colleen, These Daily Colors
- Ann Marie, Cheese Slave
- Deb G, Bee Creative
- Nathalie, CWM Goch Chronicles
- Jen C, A Garden Experiment
- Matt, The Geek Homesteader
- Liberty, Liberty’s Yarn
- Windyridge, Musings at Windyridge
- Melinda, One Green Generation
- Hannah, Caminho Da Vida
- Kendra, A Sonoma Garden
- Carolyn, Waite for Carolyn
- Jinx, Hi-Jinx
- Sue, Dog’s Little Acre
- Naturewitch
- Kimberley, The Life of a Garden
- Renee, I’m In The Garden
- Christina, Coffee Coffee Coffee
- Mrs. Mecomber, New York Renovator
- A Frugal Life – Just The Two Of Us
- Aradiay6, Gaia Community Blog
- Erica, One Busy Mama
- Pete, Allotment 5 1/2
- Carla, Violet Lane
- Jen, What’s Your Name, Mommy?
- Allie, Allie’s Answers
- Jen, Craft Adventures of Stitch Chick
- Nature Deva
- Erikka, The_Extra_Ordinary
- Kim/Blackswampgirl, A Study In Contrasts
- Compostings
- Dig This Chick
- Rena, A Day In The Life… Whew!
- Steve Kirk, Making Perfect Sense
- Jayne, Our Great Southern Land
- Cia007, Whimsical Ponderings
- Katrina, What Katrina’s Up To At the Moment
- Suzan, Scrub Oak
- Hedgewitch, Earth And Tree
- Sacha
- Jimmy Cracked Corn
- Kate, Make-a-(Green)Plan
- SuzyQ, Squirrel Chatter
- Kate Has Roots, The Root
- Heather, As The Mood Swings
- Chicharon, ‘Dig’ The Earth
- JasonL, Primolicious
- Lesley, Lesley’s Gardening
- Melanie J, Ember’s Lighthouse
- Phyllis, Green Universe
- Carolyn, Walnut Spinney
- Cheap Like Me
- Merlot, Merlot Mudpies
- Sam, Loving Green
- Becca, Becca’s Musings
- Dina, Dina’s Hip Chick Chronicles
- Linz, The Pondering Sheep
- Cathode, Inner Suburban Sustainability
- Grow This
- The Late Rob (Often Late, But Always With Style), Rob’s World
- Chris, Chez Musser
- Abbie, Farmer’s Daughter
- Julie, Towards Sustainability
- Eco ‘Burban Mom, Eco ‘Burban: Green Living For The Suburban Life
- Dana, The Small Piece Of The World We Tend
- Rebecca, Rebecca’s Life
- Jodie, Jelly Wares
- KateF, Picklebums
- Monica
- Trish, Castles In The Air
- Jennifer, Veg*n Cooking And Other Random Musings
- Kelly, Taurus Rising
- Heather in Oregon, Accidentally Frugal
- Milk, Milkweed Diaries
- Laurel, Nefaeria
- Sonnjea, Slowification
- Samantha, World of Wonders
- Amanda, A Homegrown Life
- Risa B, Stony Run Farm
- Viv, Highway Cottage
- Laura, Mas Du Diable
- Becky
- Greenfumb, Footprint Reduction In The ‘Burbs
- Duane, The Funny Farm
- Ian, Kitchen Garden In France
- Mary, Mary’s Florida Garden
- Tracy, Sunny S’African Garden
- Mama What The
- Jacqui Jones, Our New Country Life
- Jane, A Nice Blue Plate
- BevB, BevB’s Backyard
- Sarah, Going Green, In Little Baby Steps
- Cammy Harbison
- Lorina, Lorina Lately
- Jules, The Garden of Plenty
- Joy, El Mundo De Mamacita
- Trudy, Loving Home
- Maureen, Fotos By Meg
- Greg, Utah Valley Gardens
- Darlene, Stover Lane
- Sherri M, Sherri’s Mad Blabber Blog
- Paula, Buckets Of Gardening Ideas
- Jennifer, Seeds In The City
- Deb, Simple Not Easy
- Kara, Garden of Eatin’
- Allison, Adventures In Container Gardening
- Jason, Two Thousand Trees
- Krista, Provincial Pie
- Bunny, Carrot Wishes And Cilantro Dreams
- Chessa, Maybe Local Vegan!
- Roz, Gaea’s Box Of Rocks
- Mangochild, Living In A Local Zone
- Spanishloquat
- Wendy, Greenish Thumb
- DermaTalk
- Bec, Bec’s Green Diary
- Ken Toney, Our Mountain Farm
- Anne, Powell Cottage
- Marlene
[...] are currently 168 people who are a part of this challenge. Head on over to The Growing Challenge Page and check out what it’s all about. And welcome new [...]
I want to join in with the Growing Challenge – brilliant Idea. I try to grow at least a couple of new food crops each year; this year I grew
Agretti
Something New, Agretti
Chayote
Something New, Chayote
Growing Chayote Update
Okra this didn’t count in the end as I got sent Morning Glory seeds instead of Okra.
Okra or What?
Morelle De Balbis
Something New, Morelle De Balbis
A Vicious Plant
for the first time and I thought it would be nice to do it as part of the challenge.
I am a bit of a techie dunce though sorry – and I don’t understand the instruction. I want to put the image/logo on my side nav menu as an image link as I’ve seen on other pages but how do you write the code to make it link back here. Sorry to be so dum.
I plan to write a permanent page with the new foods I’ve grown for each year and have it as a permanent link on the side bar.
I garden in France equivelent to Zone 9
Hope you can help and tell me how to join in
thanks
Laura
Hi Laura, welcome, welcome!! I love your site and I’m so glad you’re joining us!
So let’s see… Right-click on the image and then save it to your computer. Then upload the image to your blog as you would upload any image. Then… it gets tricky because I don’t know what blog program you’re using, but here is the code I use:
{a href=”http://1greengeneration.elementsintime.com/?page_id=41″}{img src=enter the url here where the image is located on your site/}{/a}
But just replace all the “{” and “}” symbols with “< " and ">“. (Because the silly computer won’t let me use the “<>” symbols in the comment here.)
Let me know if that doesn’t work, and I will trouble shoot with you! You can email me if you like. ; )
[...] are currently 169 people who are a part of this challenge. Head on over to The Growing Challenge Page and check out what it’s all [...]
Is there something wrong with the computers? The last few posts have been all punctuation… Oh, I hope that the website is not broken!!
Hi Monica, no worries – it’s this horrible new wave of spam that is getting through the filter. The Spam filter learns, and then they do something different and get it through again. I don’t understand why – it’s all in Russian so I have no idea why they think an English site would be interested in their spam. Grrrr. Anyway, they’re all deleted. Hopefully they’ll get the hint and go away!!!
[...] want to write about the Green Your Insides Challenge and the Growing Challenge and the Buy Sustainably Challenge, but every time I start to write, the subject seems hollow in the [...]
I want to apologize to all of you who are receiving RSS feeds for The Growing Challenge comments & posts. It seems the comments have been hijacked by a horrible spam machine. I’ve done all I can think of to get rid of these spam comments, but somehow they still manage to get through my spam filters.
If any of you have any experience with this and can offer any solutions I’d appreciate it very much!!
In the meantime, I am going to try closing the comments here for a bit. Hopefully these people will stop this nonsense and we can re-open them soon.
If anyone is looking to join The Growing Challenge, please leave a comment anywhere else on the site, or email me.
Again, please accept my apologies!
I think it has been long enough to thwart the spammers here, so let’s try again to open up the comments…
Please leave your name, link (if you have one), and hardiness zone if you’d like to join The Growing Challenge.
Happy gardening!
[...] up for The Growing Challenge: From Seed To Seed, and we’ve reached nearly 200 participants in The Original Growing Challenge. Together we’re an awesome support network for learning new things! Welcome, everyone who has [...]
Got some new photos of seedlings and an update!
I don’t know if you received my email about wanting to participate so I thought to post here as well. Thanks!
[...] to the Eat Local Challenge or other similar types of blog challenges (The Growing Challenge is another), the No GMO Challenge is a way to organize, educate and build awareness around the [...]
I can’t wait to get my own food from these little seeds. This is going to be fun!
I am excited to join the challenge from Washington DC (20005).
http://containergardeningadventures.blogspot.com/
Welcome, Kara & Allison!
[...] up for The Growing Challenge: From Seed To Seed, and we’ve reached nearly 200 participants in The Original Growing Challenge. Together we’re an awesome support network for learning new things! Welcome, everyone who has [...]
I’d love to join The Growing Challenge! I’ve got lettuce, tomato, cilantro, parsley, sage, oregano, rosemary, basil, cucumber, beans, carrots, onions, and garlic. They’re all in containers and some are doing better than others, but I can’t wait to see how they all turn out. My cilantro just sprouted (the one indoor, not the one outdoors.)
I’m in zone 7 (I think) and from Maryland!
[...] – you can grow vegetables year round. Plus when you start that garden, don’t buy seedlings – grow them from seed, and then save your own seeds for next [...]
Welcome Bunny! Sorry – I missed your comment, but I’ve now added you above.
[...] signed up for The Growing Challenge: From Seed To Seed, and we’ve reached 197 participants in The Original Growing Challenge. Together we’re an awesome support network for learning new things! Welcome, everyone who has [...]
Hi Melinda, I’d love to join the challenge (if it’s not too late!) I’m in West Seattle, but we also garden at my parents’ house outside of Portland. My last blog post has our little container/topsoil bag garden, and I’ll have more of an update (with photos) on the OR garden this weekend. :)
Hi Melinda…I finally have a blog up and running (I think?) so I am officially joining the growing challenge, which I have unofficially been doing for over a year! I am in Tennessee, in zone 7.
I’m in for the Growing Challenge! I’m in CT, in zone 6b-ish
Welcome, you three! Sorry I’m taking so long to respond – but no, it’s definitely not too late!! I’m adding you to the list above right now. And if you actually meant to participate in the new Growing Challenge – in which you grow from seed and then save the seed, leave your information here, and I’ll add you to our next post!
HAPPY GARDENING! Don’t forget to check in!
Oh, and Congratulations, Mangochild – you’re #200!!
We are anxiously awaiting veggies from the garden and eggs from the chickens. I have the stew pot ready and the chickens really do look worried. I don’t think I could ever ‘do it’ myself, or eat them–they are more like pets. We will just have to wait for the eggs a bit longer.
I guess this is my official check-in: Edible pod peas are going to be picked as soon as the rain stops. We have had parsley, chives, and a bit of lettuce leftover from the inside garden. Funny thing about that is the lettuce did not sprout at all in the house, but put the pots outside: BOOM! Lettuce everywhere! The only problem is that the strawberries are planted in there now.
Everything is growing like crazy! Happy Gardening Everyone!
[...] signed up for The Growing Challenge: From Seed To Seed, and we’ve reached 200 participants in The Original Growing Challenge. Congratulations, Mangochild – you’re [...]
I’m signing up for the the Growing Challenge. I have grown many vegetables and some fruits this year and have saved seed from spinach, cilantro, urugula, mustard greens, flax, calendula. Now what?
Hi Spanishloquat, welcome! Sounds like you’re a seed-saving pro! How about we sign you up for the Growing Challenge Advanced: From Seed to Seed? If that sounds good to you, all I need is 1. where you’re growing (city, state, and/or country) and 2. in what hardiness zone (there are some links in the Seed to Seed post, if you don’t know your hardiness zone). Looking forward to hearing about your garden!!
[...] So far there are 152 participants signed up for The Growing Challenge: From Seed To Seed, and we’ve reached 200 participants in The Original Growing Challenge. [...]
Hi everyone, I’m Wendy in Zone 6, Maryland.
Love this challenge! I’m definitely signing up for the fun! I’m growing my usuals in my new potager and small side garden: mostly peppers, butternut squash, a few hierloom tomotoes, tons of basil, garlic, some herbs, rhubarb, purple asparagus, lettuce, tomatillo. The new thing I tried this year were the cayenne and Thai peppers. I’ve grown these all from seed, but organic hierloom seed that I’ve purchased. I’ve always been nervous about saving my own seed, but that is my own special challenge. I’m going to try to save my own seeds this year. That would be so cool! Totally new to me (as I’m only a 3rd year gardener), so it will require some research. Thanks for the challenge! I’ll be updating…
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This looks like interesting, i’m gonna signup for this. i just bought a house before i was in a rented appartment now i have my own garden , for now i’ll be growing some vegetagles potato and beans. this is my first time,so just looking around the site if i compy with the rules.
I’ve just planted a whole heap of seeds and seedlings (dozens more than I have done before), so I would also like to sign up. It sounds like a great idea. Oh, and I’m from Australia!
Welcome, Bec! What zone are you growing in Australia?
@DermaTalk, didn’t see your comment earlier – welcome – where are you growing?
Thanks Melinda :) I’m in zone 3 in Australia which is equivalent to zone 9 in the U.S. (http://www.anbg.gov.au/hort.research/zones.html)
[...] [...]
[...] [...]
Hi everybody. We’ve been gardening for several years now and would love to participate in the growing challenge. My wife and I have a farm and bed & breakfast in WV, zone 5. We’ve been raising animals for 3 years now, and growing a garden for 2 years. We grow mostly from seed and save as much as we can. Our goal next year is to extend our growing season with hoop houses and possibly a green house. We want to become mostly self-sufficient, eating only what we raise, grow, hunt or barter with locally. You can read about our challenge at http://ourmountainfarm.blogspot.com/
[...] The Growing Challenge [...]
I am not sure how to join in exactly, but if all there is to it is letting you know. Then I am letting you know. From this past fall I have saved green bean, and pea seeds. I am experimenting with peppers by trying to keep them alive in pots in the house over the winter. I read in a couple of blogs about the fact that peppers are really perenials and only die back because they can’t take the frost so I brought in my three largest pepper plants. One is a bell pepper, one is a jalepeno, and one is hot cherry pepper. We shall see!
I like Anne just above me am not sure how to join. I am 46 and am planning my very FIRST vege garden. I live in south Louisiana. I started some seeds today. My plan is to repeat the same seeds in 2 weeks following different seeds when the appropriate time is indicated by the LSU Ag Center. I am excited to have a network.
Hi Ken, Anne, and Marlene – welcome! You’re almost signed up – just let me know your hardiness zone (there’s a link up above in the post), and where you’re gardening. Also, I’ll be launching a new Growing Challenge this year, so keep an eye out. Should be this week!
Enjoy perusing the seed catalogs!
Whoops – Ken, nevermind! You’re all good.
Melinda, can you change my website from aaron-n-jen.com to emeraldsunshine.org? I’ve changed domains! Thanks so much and I really look forward to participating this year! I slacked off last year. :( I’m going to double my garden size from 2008 AND try to keep seeds!
[...] The Growing Challenge [...]
[...] The Growing Challenge [...]
We just moved from zone 14 (south Modesto) to zone 8 (about five miles from the southern most end of zone 14). We are now at the northern tip of zone 8, and I need some help with finding out what are the best/easiest plants to grow, and what will not do so well.
We now live in Ceres, California, about half way between Modesto and Turlock (which is about half way between Sacramento and Fresno, California).
Is anyone else growing in zone 8 near us? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I would like to get a few winter vegetables in before it’s too late ….
I’m interested in: winter vegetables, summer vegetables, flowers (all year!), cacti and succulents (outside).