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How to grow a Gift Garden
Lets face it- a huge aspect of homesteading is making sacrifices by choosing
to live a simple life which often equates to making due with less possessions
and with less money. It is a chose that us "farm" girls have made and are
proud of it. With that all said- we can still enjoy the feeling of giving
and teach the lessons of being generous and giving to our children.
However, instead of giving gifts that the television commercials say we
should (that usually end up in the bottom of a closet or in a box in the garage)
we can give thoughtful handmade or hand grown gifts. We can talk more about the
handmade gifts later, for now lets talk about the potential of hand-grown gifts.
Below are a few of my ideas, if you have some of your own to add, please
email me so
we can share them.
How to plan for hand grown gifts
1. Start with a yearly calendar.
2. Write all the major holidays your family celebrates onto the calendar.
3. Write down all the birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and other
celebrations for that calendar year.
4. Mark on your gift calendar the outdoor and indoor "growing" season for
your region. Some of your gifts you may grow in your kitchen or greenhouse in
the winter.
5. Watch for cute pots, baskets and small containers at garage sales, flea
markets, and resale shops.
"Hand-Grown" Gifts Ideas for the Holidays.
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Herb Garden Dry herbs individually Give dried herb
"mixes" Give live herbs in small pots. Mint makes a really neat
gift. Place the long stems of mint into a mason jar with water about 3
weeks before you want to give it. The mint will sprout roots into the
water it looks so cool and smells great.
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Live Potted House Plants
Take cuttings from your house plants to sprout new plants to give. |
Live potted bulbs Start paper white or amaryllis bulbs before
the Christmas season. The flowers not only smell wonderful but are so
beautiful. Best of all- after the season is over and the flowers fade.
Your family member can use the bulbs in their garden or save for the
next Christmas. |
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Ginger Plants Ginger is so good for you and it looks amazing
while its growing. Who knew such a tasty herb could make such a nice
house plant. To give a ginger plant- simply place potting soil
into a pot, break off a piece of organic ginger root from one you have
grown (or purchased at market) place it on top of the soil, water and
before you know it log sprouts of plants will grow out of the top. |
Cut Flowers Plan your flower beds according to what you might
want to give as cut flower gifts. |
Dried Flowers If your friends and family like lavender- grow
lavender bushes to dry as gifts.
Select flowers that dry well and maintain color such as roses to make
sachets or potpourri. |
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Growing Fruits, Vegetables and Nuts Give baskets of fresh
fruits, vegetables or nuts from your garden.
Dehydrate fruit to give.
Preserve or Can fruits and vegetables to make jams and pickles. |
Take photo's of your flowers Print out photos of your
flowers, place into a mat that you write a nice note on and frame. |
Seed Saving Save the seeds from your most successful flowers,
fruits, vegetables, etc. Make seed packages on your computer and give
the seeds as gifts. |
| Grow Gourds You can dry gourds to make birdhouses and
holiday other decorations |
Grow Luffa Gourd
Dry them out to make luffa sponges for gift baskets. You can dip
the dry luffa into handmade soap for a "combo" bath gift. |
Pickle Cucumbers and peppers |
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