Giveaway: Garden Bon Bons
By Margaret Gilmour
For Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing our love for truffles. We’re wild about the handcrafted kind. That’s Garden Bon Bons, of course.
These little darlings aren’t to eat, they’re for play. They’re candy that you’ll cherish planting atop soil and watch grow…either next week on your sill, or, later, outdoors in a pot.
Created by Moulton, an online store passionate for one-of-a-kind, quality garden tools and accessories, these bon bon balls of clay are made of organic compost and a seed, each one hand rolled with care before getting bundled in a package for you give to your sweetheart, or to keep for yourself.
Seed balls are a centuries-old, sustainable planting technique, the Native Americans typically using coin-sized balls of clay, compost soil and seed. The compost provided much-needed nutrients for seeds planted in poor soil conditions, and the clay kept insects and small animals at bay.
But these garden bon bons are even better: They come wrapped with love, topped with a bow. All for you, our devoted readers. You simply:
• plant them right away, or store them like any other seed;
• place atop a pot of soil (the clay and compost provide the bon bon with nutrients), no need to bury them; and
• add a bit of water to the bon bon and soil, just as you would any seed, and give it plenty of sunshine and adoration.
Love these truffles, and they will love you back:
Italian Herb Selection Garden Bon Bons
Eight garden truffles in this herb collection, two each of Basil, Parsley, Chives and Thyme. Think of all the meals you can flavor up.
Herbal Tea Selection Garden Bon Bons
There are eight garden truffles in this handcrafted herbal tea selection – two each of Borage, Chamomile, Lemon Balm and Stinging Nettle. Delicious fresh or dried and tossed in salads or teas. (more…)
BAGGU Giveaway
By Margaret Gilmour
We love BAGGU.
We love that they’re reusable, stylish and versatile, and we believe that you would love to own BAGGU shopping bags just about as much as we would.
And because we love the new BAGGU 5x collection so much, we decided to give it to you:
• Five standard-sized BAGGUS all wrapped-up in a compact drawstring storage sack. Great for all your shopping needs, big or small. Plus, they’re colorful, strong and, well, just plain fun.
Oh, BAGGU makes a great gift too.
Here’s to BAGGU! And here’s to you!
Here’s How to Win:
Simply leave a comment on this post. A simple “Hello” will do.
Here’s How to Enter:
Leave your contact information: Name (first name only is fine if that suits you) + a valid e-mail address (which will is not seen by others).
We will contact the winner by email. The contest is open until 7:00 a.m., Thursday, December 17, 2009. Any entries received after that time will not be accepted.
Winner will be announced the week of December 21, 2009. Only one entry per person. Multiple entries will be discarded. Contest open only to U.S. residents with a U.S. mailing address. Winner will be selected using Random.org and notified by e-mail.
Special thanks to BAGGU for their generous support and contribution. 
Sole Sense: The Paper Market selling Simple and TOMS (eco-shoes)
By Margaret Gilmour
What if every time you bought a pair of shoes, a new pair was given to a child in need?
That’s exactly what Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes and former “Amazing Race” contestant, decided to do when he started his company in 2006.
The idea hit Mycoskie while he was traveling in Argentina and noticed that many of the local kids were barefoot. Since walking is a standard mode of transportation there, the children’s feet were bruised and battered.
Rather than give out a bunch of shoes that would help only some of the Argentineans just once, Mycoskie set up his company with a sustainable business model allowing him to give one pair of shoes away for each pair they sold.
This meant TOMS (short for Tomorrow) could donate shoes and grow their business at the same time. And that’s just what Mycoskie did. (more…)
