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Free Gift (for me)

Recently Garden Shoes Online sent me a gift certificate.

The offer was simply this, it’s a gift without obligation and if I feel like writting about it fine.  There was nothing more to it, except they don’t ship to Europe…

Since I live in Europe, I decided to pass it on to a Jo at Truly Thankful who just placed her order and posted about her experiences.

What can I say?  What better way to make a blogger happy that give them a free gift, and good service at the same time.  Jo was very pleased with how her order went, and even though I couldn’t make use of it I appreciate the thought behind it.

Let this be a lesson to other online business startups.  One of the best ways to begin is get on the good side of garden bloggers!

I wish Garden Shoes Online all the best!  If you’re looking for gardening supplies, have a look at their website.

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Food Scare!

I just came across this article on Grist, that addresses some of the things I mentioned in my last post.

After a presidential election that was won in no small part thanks to the power of the Internet, it’s logical to assume political lobbying will also follow suit.  I think this bill, which according to the Grist article has little chance of passing, likely touched a nerve in the food processing industry who responded by spreading political nonsense all over the Internet from almost unknown sources in hopes of turning public opinion against it.

I think it’s important to learn a lesson from this.

I think it’s important for all of us to work within webs of trust, and if you read something really sensational on the Internet from a source you’re not familiar with and want to post about it, be sure to research the topic thoroughly first.  If you post regularly on the Internet, earn your readers trust by being careful about what you post about.  Most importantly, don’t present something as fact unless you’re pretty sure it’s true, and you’ve taken reasonable steps to verify it.  I know my record on this is not perfect, but I think it’s doubly important these days we all pay more attention to this issue.

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Tom Wagner in Europe

French seed organization Kokopelli is sponsoring a European tour of the famous US plant breeder Tom Wagner this summer.  He will be holding a number of two day workshops, as well as lectures in a number of still to be determined European countries.

Kokopelli’s original French language announcement is here, and a computer translated English version is available here.

Tom Wagner has been breeding tomatoes and potatoes for 56 years now, and started when he was 8 years old.  He’s currently working with 100,000 different potato varieties!

If there’s anyone who’s a better example of how plant breeding is in no way just for an elite group of gardeners, I don’t know who it would be.  I think these seminars would be good for anyone interested in heirloom gardening, seed saving and plant breeding regardless of experience level.  It’s also events like these that give us a chance to all get together and meet, something we might not otherwise have an opportunity to do.

Tom Wagner’s blog can be found here.

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Obama Sound Bites

I just came across this kind of funny collection of sound bites from Obama, from an audio book he made.  They show another side of the US president.  You’re warned, the language is very vulgar.  MATURE CONTENT!

My personal favorite is the last one in the list.  Buy your own fries!

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Ethical Gardening Contest!

Only people over 18 and a UK resident or eligible to win prizes in this contest.

Do you have an Ethical Garden?  Let the Observer Organic Allotment people know and maybe you can win a £500 gift voucher.

All environmental ideas recently published in gardening blogs from the UK and elsewhere eagerly considered!  For more ideas, have a look at the 20 big green ideas linked to in the post above.

Entries have to be submitted before March 9, 2009.