Do you give holiday gifts from your garden?

With the jellies, bread & butter pickles.

new strains of potted liliums[spread around for safety] then you know where to get one back if you lose yours

I make wrapping paper out of recycled brown paper bags and twine, adding dried flowers and berries as decorations. Although last year I found the neatest white berries and realized just before I cut them that they were poison ivy berries--a gift that would have kept on giving!!

I give seeds, altho this year was not in this area good for producing seeds, so was not able to give many. My daughter in Virginia, with 21 inches of snow probably will want seeds later. Donna

Couldn't vote in this one as you had no selection for No. (I did once give a niece some seeds I collected from my herbs -- does that count?)

Seems like every year I have a bumper crop of something different---this year it was Hachiya persimmons. So I've been making persimmon bread. One year it was Asian pears, and I found a wonderful pear-cranberry chutney recipe.

I am surprised there is no category for giving seeds from one's garden. Not really unique, and I think many people here might do just that, if only as a little add-on gift.

I give jams and bottled fruit and veg of various kind, pickled goods and pretty much anything that can be preserved in a jar to my extended family. Also juice from our apples and pears preserved in bottles. Elderflower cordial is perhaps one of the rarer ones.

We are invited to visit a friend and I promised her fresh rocket from the garden for a salad. I am glad that I have a lot of rocket plants in the greenhouse, because the garden rocket is under a cloche which is under a foot of snow at the moment :-) Well I guess that is not really a present, just a contribution to dinner.

Unfortunately not everybody appreciates garden gifts and some even think it is a bit cheap, because these gifts did not come with a price tag originally (unlike bought presents where the price tag will need to be removed naturally!). This is why I only give garden items to people who I know will appreciate them and appreciate the work that has gone into them. A bought gift can be a safer bet.

Most people are very happy with my home made liquors of strawberries, plums, black currants, raspberries, elder tree berries, pears or nuts.

When I give things from the garden, generally its food and sometimes seeds or cuttings. This Christmas its homemade Herb bread and a couple Acorn squash going with me for a Christmas visit.

Oh Jonna, wish I was on your Christmas list ☺

You can always come over to us and try them all.

Wreaths made from greens, jams, divided plants, seeds - and it varies from year to year as to what's available.

LOVE the wrapping photo above! Fab idea!!

I always appreciate & receive gardening gifts; such as gloves, tools, etc... from friends and family. Perhaps, this is their way of encouraging me to grow the produce that I turn into garden gifts.

Can't find the box for 'No'...

I share seeds of some of my vines that produce beautiful blooms. I actually ship them in my Christmas cards. Those who grow them, enjoy them, and look forward to what I send the next year! :-)

I chose jams and jellies, but it don't end there. I give other caned fruits and pickled watermelon rind as well as sweet potatoes. They are all usually appreciated. Of course you know what most of your children and other family members like, which helps a bunch.

I also agree with Dixielol, Would be nice to be on Jonnas list.
Russ

How do we spell n-o?

We spell it, s-N-O-w at this time of year!

Seeds and dried herbs. I tried to make a gift from an interesting rock from my garden this year. It was supposed to be a toad. Instead it looked like a deranged smurf. It's probably best if I stick to seeds and dried herbs, ya think?

From my herbs I make lip balms, salves, infused topical oils, dream pillows, bath salts, flavored sugars, spice mixes, flavored butters, facial toners, and also jams, jellies, mustards, pickles, etc. Then, from spices I don't grow (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc) I make spiced pecans, spiced pumpkin seeds, etc.

No was my answer too. I have all perennial gardens. I have divided some and gave to my son, some seeds have been given to his SO but as gifts? No.....oh wait unless we can count a big floral bouquet for my DMIL last August.

I wish my gifts had come from my garden this year but plane tickets and a functional car don't grow on trees!

I heard that.

My obsession is Desert Rose, and have been giving friends and neighbors potted plants that I have raised from seed, but only if I think they will be good parents for them^_^. Jim

That four letter _NO_ word + the four letter _OLD word seem to be curtailing the work on our car now too. Lucky we still have the little S10 with extra weight in back. Which, Hopefully will get us by until the weather cooperates a little more favorable for making the repairs on the car.
Juggling all the out go on S-S don't leave room for much else.
Just got done packing 2 more gift packages of canned pears, pear jelly and plumb jelly for the 2 workers at our local senior meals. Yesterday one of them surprised us with gifts for every body.
I can't let that go unrewarded, glad I went overboard on canning this year.

Right on, Jim it is nice to know your gifts will be appreciated.
Russ

this household does not celebrate xmas. solstice, yes. xmas, no.

Well that was the original purpose by the pagans, to worship their sun god. But I chose to worship the living God and the birth of Jesus, even though I do not know the date of his birth. I don't judge anyone for their choice not to do so.

For this Christmas, I will pick my beautiful young tangerine tree and will bring its fruits to my friends.

Russ, I depend on my 1995 little S 10 with 6 sacks of sand in the back for when my lane doesn't get plowed. We had 6 inches of snow but all melted now, and cold, 21 degrees this morning.

Donna

I have given people plants from my garden, but never at Christmas. That's no time to send California plants to Pennsylvania and my citrus are not quite ripe by Christmas.

I too have a sNOw garden & certainly don't can anyhing.Will give advice if asked & sometimes when not asked.

Donna; yes I think the world of my little S10. It is really working out great. I have a piece of steel in back by the tailgate, 3/4" thick that just fits across behind the wheel wells and I have a 2X6 cut to hold it from shifting or in case of a sudden stop, from bouncing over and flying into the front of the box,
( or worse). Today was a good test for good traction, we just drove 9 miles on ice. only 35 and 40 mph. but no trouble. Never slipped nor spun a tire, But I do plan on getting some sand in a couple feed sacks, to lay on each side in the front of the box. If that isn't enough to get around with, I don't need to be out. Does your S10 have the 4.3 ? That engine gives mine all the git up and go I like and then some.

I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Keep warm!
Russ

I couldn't vote on this one. I don't give anything from my garden. I don't grow anything edible, I'm not crafty, and I don't think anyone I give gifts to would appreciate crafty type gifts anyway.

Deb

irisMA said: "Will give advice if asked & sometimes when not asked" And aren't we just luving that continous gift! Thanks everso irisMA.

I can't figure out how to vote... oh well. I made raspberry vinegar, blackberry syrup, and an herbal balm this year for gifts. My son made hot sauce and a spice mix. Keep it simple.

Update: in true 'bonehead' style, I neglected to scroll down far enough.... I've now voted.

This message was edited Dec 24, 2009 12:08 AM

Photography and card making are two of my other hobbies, second to gardening. I make custom cards using photos of my flowers.

I agree with greenjay we celebrate the solstice too...and the part of the xmas tradition that came from the ancients who were in tune with nature - decorating the tree :) (but a fake one so we don't have to kill a live one :(

I danced in the desert for the first time to celebrate Solstice this year. Had to wear shoes as there were cactii sprinkled about on the dance floor. No worries bonehead. I forget to do the "vote" part all the time. We nuts do things like that alot.

My medium of choice is fabric. I usually hang out in the DG quilting/sewing forums as well as the beginning gardening forum. I would say that what I take away from my garden for gift giving purposes are the color combinations found in nature. I use those as the inspiration for what I create from fabric. I've never seen Mother Nature shy away from putting bold and new color combinations together. She has a way of making them work. She's a great muse :)