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Food Gal Giveaway — Tickets to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show

Step inside the 26th annual San Francisco Flower & Garden Show, March 23-27, for a real whiff of spring.

Get ideas for your own backyard by checking out 20 full-sized garden installations from top Bay Area designers, including a 6,000-square-foot “Homestead” by Star Apple Edible Gardens of Oakland, which will feature a chicken coop and demonstrations on beer and jam making.

Indeed, this year’s show — which takes place at the San Mateo Event Center — is full of foodie fun. For the first time, the show will feature a series of cooking demonstrations by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley (March 26), Sean Baker of Gather restaurant in Berkeley (March 23), and Jeffrey Stout of Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino and San Francisco (March 25).

Additionally, the Livermore Valley Wine Growers Association will debut a new wine garden tasting area.

The show also will include seminars, book signings, a farmers market and a marketplace with more than 200 vendors selling everything from plants to seeds to tools.

Filmmaker Deborah Garcia will be showing scenes from her newest documentary, “Symphony of the Soil,” which examines the state of community based and scientific growing practices around the globe.

Advance tickets are $16 online for a single day or at the door for $20. A multi-day, all-show pass is $25; a half-day pass is $15; and children under $16 are admitted free at all times.

The Food Gal is happy to be able to give away three pairs of multi-day passes. Yes, tickets good for any and all days of the show. Tickets are valued at $50 per pair.

Contest: Entries are limited to those who can attend the show in San Mateo, March 23-27. Entries will be accepted through midnight March 12. Winners will be announced March 14.

How to win?

Tell me your favorite flower and why. Best three answers win the tickets.

Here’s my own answer:

“It’s a tie between calla lillies and tulips. I love each for their sculptural shapes that are arresting to look at, no matter what color the blooms may be. I have a soft spot for callas because they were my wedding flowers — white for my own bouquet and burgundy for my bridesmaids. No other flower makes me think of spring as much as tulips, either, particularly the ones with sweet pale colors of Easter egg candies.”