Garden Harvest Photo Contest winners 2015

Gardening and photography go wonderfully together. A garden’s textures, colors and shapes are beautiful enough to frame — and the photographer never has to go hungry!

More than 325 delectable images were submitted by green-thumbed readers in our 2015 Garden Harvest Photo Contest. Here are five winners (who earn gift cards to Molbak’s Garden + Home) and five lovely runners-up.

Thanks to all who entered; have a tasty harvest season!

GRAND PRIZE

“Dancing Carrots,” Kristin Zwiers, Seattle

Zwiers says, “One of my favorite vegetables to grow in the garden is carrots because I love the surprise when pulling them out of the ground. When I unearthed these, they immediately reminded me of tiny dancing people, so my boys helped me create a photo shoot with these dancing carrots, bringing them to life.”

WINNER

“August Poppie,” Savanna Sherstad, Woodinville

“I’ve been taking pictures in the yard since I was 11 years old (almost nine years now). … I believe photography, like other arts, forces you to think outside the box, and to look at the most basic things in a new light.”

WINNER

“Purple Striped Eggplants and Red Runner Beans,” Valerie Willson, Vashon

“The photographs I’ve taken are to create a whole visual image. I love the rich coral of the dahlia with all the different purples of the beans, eggplants and tomatillos.”

WINNER

“Mother Nature at Her Finest,” Barbara Rutledge, Renton

“This is my first year that I have really been able to grow flowers. Most of what I grow are in pots. (It keeps the bugs down.) I am a budding photographer so I grow what I want to shoot.”

WINNER

“Football Season + Harvest Season,” Shu-Hsien Lee, Bellevue

“[The] urban garden outside my kitchen door [grows] Asian vegetables, fruits and herbs in the Pacific Northwest.”

RUNNER-UP

“Intertwined Carrots,” Lyssa Browne, Seattle

“As an inexperienced gardener, I was reluctant to thin my carrot starts. They looked so happily entertained that I couldn’t eat them.”

RUNNER-UP

“We Have Our Own Garden of Eden,” Karen Drumheller, Renton

“I am a high school art teacher … I love to do all forms of art and I love teaching art. This though, is the first time I’ve ‘painted’ with flowers and plants.”

RUNNER-UP

“Fresh Shelled Garden Peas With a Sprig of Mint,” Patty Hinkle, West Seattle

“Gotta keep it fancy!”

RUNNER-UP

“Garden Harvest,” Monica Lambert, Fall City

“This was from my first-year garden. Produce includes green beans, edamame, cucumber, rainbow carrots, a variety of tomatoes and fresh eggs from our hens.”

RUNNER-UP

“I Love Snacking on Fresh Peas from the Garden,” Gavin Imes, Clinton, Wash.

“I am a sophomore at Gonzaga University in Spokane, studying International Business and Marketing, and Spanish. I grew up on a small family farm on Whidbey Island, where I learned to appreciate good food, the beauty of nature and photography.”

View all the entries below.