A week ago, I shared that urban agriculture genius Will Allen is visiting Columbus. Tickets are still available to the Friday keynote and Saturday-Sunday workshop intensive.

Thanks to a donation from Scotts via Slow Food Columbus, I am able to give away a ticket to the keynote address this Friday, July 15, 2011 at Franklin Park Conservatory. The winner can attend both the semi-private meet & greet session at 5 pm and the 6 pm talk, a $50 value!

All you need to do to enter is leave a comment with the reason you want to attend.

I'll start. I can't wait to hear Will Allen because:

he has all the dirt on building healthy soil. I aspire to be more than a lazy composter.
a former basketball player, Allen now builds hoop houses. I need to have one of these some day.
he believes in the transformative power of edible gardening. I look forward to being inspired by his radical back-to-the-earth ideas.

Leave a comment with your reason and a way to contact you before midnight Wednesday July 13, 2011 when the contest ends. I'll draw a random winner and notify them by 10 am Thursday.

Have you heard? Two weeks from today, Will Allen will be here with staff from Growing Power to educate and inspire central Ohio gardeners and food lovers! Who is Will Allen?

The New York Times magazine article 'Street Farmer' provided my first introduction to Allen and his company Growing Power. From the cover photo of his strong hands holding precious garden worms to the thoughtful questions raised and answered by Allen's work in urban agriculture, the Times tells all.

That is, everything up to the publication date of July 2009. In the intervening years, Will Allen's fame and funding has grown. In 2010 he was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people and serves as an advisor to the Obama whitehouse on matters of garden and food education, among other accolades.

I am thrilled that Stiletto Gardener of Columbus Ohio is the newest Regional Outreach Training Center for Will Allen's Growing Power initiative. Ameena Salahuddin, the Stiletto Gardener, is leading the way for Will Allen to train hundreds of gardeners here in central Ohio over the next five years.

Learn from Growing Power

Allen's first visit will be July 15 - 17, 2011. He will give a keynote address on Friday night and a two-day workshop on Saturday and Sunday.

The keynote address will be held at 6 pm at Franklin Park Conservatory. Tickets for this event are $35 per person.

A semi-private reception at 5 pm will allow visitors to meet Allen personally. Tickets for the reception, including keynote address, are $50 and selling fast.

The Saturday and Sunday intensive is a series of workshops on hoop house building, composting, aquaponics, vermiculture, and microgreen production. Held at Stiletto Gardener's site in Blacklick, the workshop costs $170 per person. The workshop ticket includes lunch and the keynote address.

Buy tickets to the Will Allen keynote or workshop online or by contacting Ameena at 614-859-4105.

Will I see you there?

Photo by Pete Amland (UWM Photographic Services)