Gifts from the garden

As gift-giving season fast approaches, the stress of remembering who's on the list, what they like or don't like, not to mention the cost of many items can make the season more stressful than might be ideal. Here are a few ideas for this year (or to keep in mind for next year!) to ease the situation.

Dried herbs.

Dried herbs make fantastic presents! Whether it's a sprig of rosemary, a sweet little jar of oregano, dried mint and lemon balm for tea, or lavender sachets for a drawer or for a plunge in the bath, these are sure to delight. Drying herbs is easy as hanging them up to dry in the house or popping them in a low, low oven spread out on a cookie sheet.

Garden preserves.

If you've got a nice bundle of goodies canned, dried, or frozen consider dolling up the packaging a bit and giving them as gifts. Dried tomatoes (or tomato chips!) make a fantastic present that could probably be given multiple years in a row without any complaints, not too mention some of that pesto in the freezer!

Garden crafts.

How about a wreath from the wild grapevine growing along the back fence? Or a bouquet of dried flowers? How about some seeds saved from a garden favorite? Here's a good list of ideas and how to do them, or check out this upcoming movie about handmade gifts and crafts to release that crafty gene just lurking in your veins!

More Ideas?

Send along some of your favorite garden gift ideas. We'd love to hear how you share the bounty of the garden during the holidays.