Wow! What can I say… There were over 5,000 entries for the composter giveaway and I think that I had a record number of comments on that post.

The Composter Giveaway is now closed and a winner has been selected. Robert Fantom from New York is the proud winner of the Urban Compost Bin Tumbler. He had this to say:

I have been telling my 5 year old daughter the benefits composting and promised her that we would build a composting pile this spring. This will make it so much easier, and she’ll be able to maintain the compost pile with just a little help from us.

See, educating your kids on the benefits of composting and making effective use of child labor. I am convinced that this is the secret to successful gardening. Congratulations to Robert and thanks to everyone who entered.

You can now return to your regularly scheduled day.

One of the coolest things about being a garden blogger is that I get free stuff. Which sometimes doesn’t seem quite right. I get free stuff just for fretting and philosophizing about plants online. When did the world get that cool? The Scottish part of me is just in free heaven.

Sometimes, I get free stuff and I like it. Sometimes, I get free stuff and… well. It’s not so much bad as it just does not fit in with my lifestyle. The Urban Compost Bin Tumbler was one of those things. Great concept. Great for someone with limited space. Great for someone who is not lazy and forgetful… We were fine up until we got to the lazy and forgetful part..

It just so happened that at the school my kids attend, they had just built a new playground. The new playground also had several raised garden beds. The garden beds were sorely lacking in decent compost. And with that realization, the urban composter went to go live at the school. In the playground. Next to the raised garden beds. My oldest son tells me that they put lunch scraps in it and that the kids take turns turning it.

Child labor. I am quickly discovering that this is a key element to successful gardening.

So this year, I was offered another urban composter. I could take it. I could try it… again. I could once more display my lack of motivation by failing to regularly turn the composter. But where is the fun in that?

I would much rather this lovely composter (with the low, low retail price of $249.95) goes to one of the people who visit my blog (hint, hint - that would be you). So I worked out a deal with Organic-Composter.com and we are going to give one of you a free composter.

So, I have set up an entry form and you can go here to sign up for a chance to win a pretty nifty gadget for your garden.  All I need is your name and email address and you will be entered.  No, I don’t sell or rent or spam email addresses.  I just need some way of getting a hold of you.

I will choose the winner at random after March 31st. You can enter once a day between now and then, so visit often and enter frequently!

Thanks again to everyone who donated to Tammy’s cross country ride with Ride for World Health. We chose a winner at random and the winner was SarahKeith of Tallahassee, FL.

SarahKeith is actually familiar with the magazine and said that she enjoyed looking at it in the past when she could find it. She says “it has really gorgeous photography and some (surprisingly?) intelligent/informative articles”.

Thanks also to Sharon Bruner from Garden & Gun Magazine for donating a year’s subscription and some super cool swag to go along with it.

This giveaway was so successful, that I have had another company volunteer to donate a garden item for a giveaway. I will have all the details for you tomorrow. And how you can register to be entered for that giveaway.

Also, if any of you are still interested in donating to Tammy’s ride, I encourage you to do so. As I have said, it is a great cause (and tax deduction).

Hey, I just wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to donate to Tammy’s cross country ride so that you can be entered into the drawing for a year’s subscription for Gun & Garden magazine.

 I also wanted to send a big THANK YOU out to all of you who have donated already.  Tammy and I really appreciate it and you are helping a great cause!

You can enter all the way through midnight tonight.  Give any amount - $1, $5, $20, a couple $1000 if you have it laying around - and you will be entered.  All donations are tax deductible as Ride for World Health is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. So if you missed having that tax deduction on this years taxes, this is a great way to make sure you have it for next years taxes.

Help Tammy in her cross country bike ride!

Sometimes you know someone who is so environmentally friendly, you sometimes wonder if they might be clandestinely dating Mother Nature. My friend Tammy Thompson is one of those people.

She recycles EVERYTHING (and even washes it before it goes in the recycle bin). She walks and bikes when possible. She refrains from wasting electricity. And eats organic vegetables like a woman possessed.

She also likes to stay in shape. On more than one occasion, she has asked me if I wanted to start training for a marathon with her. I have always appreciated the offer, but I have also always politely but firmly declined. I look very funny when I run.

I suppose I should not have been surprised when she told me that she had decided to bike across the country in the name of a good cause called Ride for World Health. I am thinking that love, even environmental love, can make you do some pretty crazy things. I am also thinking that I am glad she did not ask me if I wanted to train for this with her, because it is really hard to claim you look silly riding a bike.

So, starting at the beginning of April, dear Tammy will be getting on a bike in San Diego, CA and a month and a half (or so) later, she will get off that bike in Washington, DC. Actually, I think she gets off the bike a few times between point A and B but you get the drift.

Tammy is participating in Ride For World Health, which is a cross country bike ride to raise awareness about the health issues the world faces. While we may think that rising health care cost are something to piss and moan about, there are still parts of the world where 1 out of every 10 babies will die, where obsolete diseases such as polio still run rampant, where HIV/AIDS have lowered the life expectancy to ages we think of as where you are just getting really started in life.  People in these parts of the world are not concerned about the cost of healthcare, they are just desperate for healthcare.

Anyhoo, Tammy is riding a bike across the country, being both environmentally friendly and globally conscience, and the only thing I can do is help her organization raise money. I am so pathetic and she is so awesome.

In an effort to help Tammy and Ride for World Health, I am asking you to make a donation. And, as incentive for making a donation, if you donate, you will be entered into a drawing to win a whole year’s subscription to Garden & Gun magazine (provided of course you tell me what the hell the magazine is really about after you get it). You can donate any amount to be entered.

And for you accountant types… Yes, the donation is tax deductible. They are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. So if you are looking for a worthy cause, this is it. Right here. Don’t miss out.

The money collected by Tammy and the Ride for World Health Crew will go to Doctors Without Borders.

To enter the drawing and make a donation to Ride for World Health, use the PayPal links on this page.

You can make a donation to enter the drawing through February 29th. But, Ride for World Health is an annual event, so feel free to donate out of the goodness of your heart any time.