Gardening Challenges
Contest Period:
The competition will run from February 15, 2022
through September 30, 2022.
Rules of Competition
Contestants will compete in each of the following categories:
Heaviest Tomato
[as determined by a certified scale.]Watch our contestants ruthlessly battle to grow the heaviest open-pollinated tomato cultivar of their choice from seed, while documenting the planting and growing process for all to follow along with on social media! The heftiest tomato harvested within 140 days when weighed by certified scale wins! Follow along to watch our supreme gardening competitors sow, tend and weigh their prized fruit while sharing their heavyweight tomato growing secrets!
Hottest Pepper
[based on the Scoville Scale.]Watch our contestants battle it out to grow the hottest pepper in a 160 day, cut-throat chilli growing challenge! Contestants can germinate any open-pollinated pepper variety they choose and will document the process while giving helpful tips! After harvesting their chosen contender, contestants will dehydrate it before sending it for Scoville (pungency/heat) testing by Southwest Bio Labs, located in the famous pepper capital of the world, Las Cruces, New Mexico!
Most Exquisite Curated Container Arrangement
Contestants are encouraged to let their imagination run wild while designing and growing a beautiful 45-gallon container arrangement from seed, bulb and/or corm! Watch and cheer-on our superstar growers while they germinate, design and tend to their exquisite bounties. Stay tuned and subscribe to our email list to get notified when it’s time to vote for your favorite Most Exquisite Curated Container Arrangement!
Heaviest Sweet Potato or Yam
Ready, set, plant your slips, and share your growing tips! Watch our green thumb gifted contestants face-off to grow the heaviest non-gmo sweet potato or yam cultivar of their choosing in our Johnny Appleseed 45-gallon grow bags! Contestants have 160 days from transplanting their slip, to weighing their heftiest #PoweredByClimateGard tuber on a local certified scale!
Heaviest Squash
Contestants will squash it out in an epic battle to grow the heaviest open-pollinated squash, pumpkin or gourd cultivar of their choice! Follow along on social media to root for our competitors while they plant, care for and weigh their heavyweights within 160 days of sowing. Stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter to find out who will be the very first #PoweredByClimateGard heavyweight squash champion!
Best Organic Gardening Hack
Learn tips from some of the best gardeners across the country and vote for your favorite one! Watch our contestants share their choice tried and true, organic gardening hack and how to replicate it in your own garden! The hack with the most votes on Instagram, wins! Stay tuned and subscribe to our email list to be notified when it’s time to place your vote for the hack you like best!
Scoring
Each contestant is assigned points based on their ranking in each individual contest. The contestant with the highest number of accumulated points after all events conclude, wins the Johnny Appleseed Organic Challenge.
After each event concludes and results are recorded, contestant’s scores and ranking will be updated on our live leaderboard!Additional Considerations
In the case of vegetable-specific categories, contestants will compete on a self-directed basis informed by their preferences and the specific growing requirements of the USDA zone in which they’re located (i.e., a contestant located in Oregon will likely choose to germinate, transplant, harvest and weigh each vegetable on a different schedule than a grower in Florida). The social media posting/voting timeline for ‘Most Exquisitely Curated Container Arrangement’ and ‘Best Garden Hack’ will be simultaneous with other contestants and determined after receipt of all entries.
Contestants can plant multiple seeds and cultivars for each contest, but can only submit one final entry per category. Complete documentation per individual contest rules must be provided for all final cultivar entries. We will provide 6 grow bags per contestant to help facilitate creativity and success. Contestants can plant multiple grow bags for a single category, but must pick one final submission per category.
Contestants may not use any commercial fertilization input other than Johnny Appleseed Organic ClimateGard, but are allowed to supplement their fertilization regimen with homemade inputs like compost, pet or livestock manure, coffee grounds, etc.
See Full Contest Rules