Harvesting Made Easy: A Giveaway From the Roo

Show of hands: How many times have you gone into the garden, merely to water the plants or refill the bird bath… and then find yourself trudging back to the house with the bottom of your shirt rolled up, filled with a bunch of tomatoes you hadn’t intended to harvest, while you juggle another handful of peppers… all because you didn’t want to make multiple trips? (Am I the only one who does this??)

There are days when I wish I would’ve worn a larger shirt. Or one that wasn’t white. Or I could just bring a basket out with me every time I go in the garden… but I always forget and then I’m too lazy to run back to the house for one.

For people like me, there’s the Roo, which was given to me for a hands-on (or is it hands-off?) review.

The Roo is a gardening apron, but that doesn’t mean you’re expected to chef up a farm-to-fork meal right there in your garden. It’s a hybrid of an apron and a collection pouch that makes harvesting easier. Think of it as a mobile basket or wheelbarrow that you wear.

The apron is fully adjustable, with straps that tie in the back as well as cords that can be knotted at different lengths to shorten or lengthen the pouch as needed.

Not only is it handy for harvesting the fruits of your labor (I’ve filled it with several pounds of citrus and the apron felt quite sturdy), but it’s also perfect for the little jobs, like holding weeds, bulbs, seed packets, or maybe a bottle of water while you’re roaming around the yard.

But the key feature of the Roo is what happens after you collect everything in the pouch.

Usually, I like to harvest a lot of things at once. Bending down to a basket after every handful can be a pain, literally, and then you have to keep moving your basket around as it gets heavier and heavier. With the Roo, I can quickly collect a pocket full of feijoas without breaking my rhythm. (If you have a feijoa tree, you know these things drop to the ground in bucket loads!)

When the pocket fills up, I simply pull the cords on the sides to release the Roo…

The apron unfurls and out come tumbling all the feijoas into my harvest basket.

Reattach the cords, harvest, fill, and release again. This simple apron has really made hefty harvest days much more convenient and easy on the back. It’s small enough to stash on a shelf or hang from a hook, so you really have no excuse not to have it close by for all your garden chores.

As I use the Roo more and more, I find plenty of other uses for it too — most recently, to gather a bundle of straw to mulch my beds with. And with these blustery days of fall, you could also use it to move piles of dead leaves around. The water-resistant nylon interior keeps you high and dry, but the whole garment is machine washable should you get a little too harvest happy in the dirt.

For one lucky winner, Roo is giving away a cotton apron ($29.95 value) in your choice of color — or your loved one’s color of choice, as this would make a great Christmas gift for the green thumb in your life! (You might think it’s too early to start thinking about Christmas, but I just heard my first rendition of “Carol of the Bells” on TV last week — replayed twice an hour, every hour — so don’t even get me started!)

How to enter: Simply leave a comment below and tell me how you would use the Roo around your house! To receive an additional entry, follow @gardenbetty on Twitter, and leave a second comment below indicating your Twitter username. You have two chances to win!

The giveaway will end at 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time on Friday, November 16, 2012. Winner will be drawn at random and announced the following week. Good luck!

Giveaway Rules

1. Giveaway begins November 12, 2012 and ends November 16, 2012.
2. No purchase is necessary. To enter, leave a comment on this blog post.
3. Only US and Canada residents ages 18 and older are eligible to enter.
4. Two entries allowed per person.
5. Odds of winning are based on number of entries received.
6. Winner will be drawn at random.
7. If winner does not respond within 48 hours after time of contact, that entry will be forfeited and a new winner will be drawn.

This post is brought to you by The Roo. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that support Garden Betty.

Update: A big thanks to everyone who entered!
This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been announced here.