We'll it's cyber Monday, traditionally the heaviest internet shopping day of the year. If you're looking for a holiday gift for that special gardener in your life, here are 10 great holiday gift ideas priced from $17 and up.
Potato Scoop
I love Burgon & Ball (B&B) tools. They're very well made and feel like the type of tools that you'll have for a lifetime. B&B garden trowels, spades, forks, dibbles and other common tools can be found at on-line retailers and in some specialty retail shops in the U.S.
Sadly the B&B potato scoop is much harder to find. This is really a shame because this scoop is a handy tool. The front edge is solid and lets you dig into the dirt but the back end of the scoop is comprised of tines so that dirt can be sifted away from potatoes. I found a seller on eBay who sold me the B&B potato scoop for $23 + $11 shipping from England.
Book: Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It By Karen Solomon
I've used quite a number of recipes from this book including the basic pickle recipe and the recipe to cure bacon at home. If you are new to home food preservation, this is a good place to begin. You get 75 recipes in the book. It costs $17 at Amazon.com.
Two-Wheeled Garden Cart
I find that the traditional 1-wheeled wheelbarrow can be difficult to manage when hauling heavier loads such as soil or garden pebbles. This two-wheeled garden cart is much easier to manage. You can find a number of models from several manufacturers. I purchased mine at a local hardware store for about $60. Well worth it.
EarthBox Self Watering Planter
The EarthBox is a self-watering planter kit that let's you grow vegetables or flowers on a balcony, roof, deck or other place where it otherwise be impossible to locate a traditional garden or raised bed.
You assemble the EarthBox and fill it with soil and the fertilizer you need for one growing season. You then cover the soil with a plastic cover and cut a number of slits into which you insert your seedlings.
The Earthbox accommodates 2 tomato plants or 4 cucumbers or as many as 10 beets. You fill water into the planter through a plastic pipe that sticks up through the soil. The water enters a reservoir in the planter and automatically give the plants the right amount of water. I used an EarthBox this last year and thought it did a very good job. If you plan to grow tomatoes in an EarthBox, go with a smaller determinate variety. About $45 from garden centers.
Floral Fragrances From Caswell-Massey - One of the oldest apothecary shops in the US, Caswell-Masey has been selling fine personal care items since the 1750's. The company's scents tend to have a very old fashioned character. Their simplicity is rather refreshing.
You can find rose, lily of the valley, gardenia and other floral scents for $30. For Guys, Caswell-Massey sells a variety of colognes such as "Number Six" a citrus based fragrance worn by George Washington.
Hori Hori
The Hori Hori is a general purpose gardening tool that is excellent for digging and weeding. Shaped like a bowie knife, the point is moderately sharp so it can dig deep into soil. One edge of the blade is serrated to cut roots, and the length of the knife on one side is concave like a garden trowel, so it can be used to dig deep into the soil.
In a prior review of this tool, I commented that if Crocodile Dundee ever took up gardening, the Hori Hori would be his tool of choice. This holiday season it can be your tool of choice as well. You can buy one of these at a garden specialty store or online from Wildflower Seed for $29.
Jasmine Plant
Having fresh cut flowers on the table can brighten up dark winter days. While cutflowers only last a few days, these Jasmine plants have much greater staying power; Jasmine flowers open over the course of 4 or more weeks. When in full bloom, Jasmine will fill the air with fragrance.
You can buy Jasmine from WhiteFlower Farm for $33. Below is a link to their video on how to care for Jasmine. By the way, Whiteflower Farm also sells paper whites, amaryllis and other flowering plants if Jasmine isn't your speed.
Gardening Shoes
Gardening shoes are a practical and affordable gift. They are easy to slip on, are comfortabe and resist water. In my area, we have very heavy clay soil that sticks horribly to the treds of sneakers. Gardening shoes have shallow treds that lessen this problem.
I like the Sloggers brand. They come in a variety of colors and sizes and generally cost about $25. You can find them at hardware and gardening stores or through Amazon.com.
Eglu Go Chicken Coop & Run
If someone on your shopping list has been thinking about adding chickens to their urban farm, here's a way to do so without the hassle of building a coop.
The Egu Go from Omlet is a modernly-styled coop that lets you keep up to four chickens. The coop is designed for easy access eggs in the nest box area and dropping fall through the slatted floor and into a pan for easy cleaning.
The Egu comes in red, yellow and green and costs $495 for the complete outfit ($245 for the coop only). They also sell larger coops if you want to keep more chickens.
A Fine Folding Knife
A good folding knife can be used to harvest vegetables, graft tree branches, slice fruit, or even cut open those holiday mail packages. They come in a surprisingly wide variety of styles from traditional wood-handled knives to modern high tech ones. Prices range from from $20 to $200.
I own a French Lagiuole knife that's similar to the one shown below. This knife was hand made in France and I really love using it.
However, I need to warn you about ordering and backorders; some of the higher priced knives are made-to-order by craftsmen in Europe. If you decide to place an order for a holiday gift, make sure they have the model you want in stock; otherwise you will be giving your holiday gift in March.
You can buy any of the knives shown below from World Knives, a company with a wide selection of high quality products.
M. Nieto Ttylet - $24
Hartkopf Rosewood Lockblade - $90
Fontenille-Pataud Lagioule - $200
Maserin Trigger - $120
Good luck shopping. Please post a comment if you have a favorite item you want other gardeners to know about.
Thanks for the tip on the gardening shoes, Mark - I've been looking for something along those lines; there are several types and brands and not much way to distinguish among them so I'll give these a try.
Most of your suggestions appear to be good ones, but I admit to a bit of a double-take when cologne showed up! Garden fragrances ... glad you explained that one.
Posted by: Steve Klemp | 11/29/2010 at 01:32 PM
Thanks Steve. Good luck with your shopping.
Posted by: Mark Delman | 11/30/2010 at 05:32 AM