Gift guide for gardeners

If you’re trying to beat the forthcoming holiday rush by getting your shopping done early, I have a few ideas for the gardeners in your life.

My initial list of garden gadgets and supplies runs much longer than this post. I looked across things that I rely on seasonally and year-round that have made my life easier and helped support the garden in new ways. I trimmed the list of a few dozen items down to five that I feel any gardener would be happy to receive as a gift, even if they may have it already. (In case you missed it, last week I shared a gift guide for beekeepers.)

There are so many supplies needed in gardening. From seeds, seedlings, plant health, to harvesting and food preservation.

Kelp meal | I imagine this might be a surprise to find on a gift list. Kelp is a fantastic soil amendment and fertilizer. Kelp meal offers a gentle ratio of nitrogen and potassium that doesn’t burn plants, and is particularly helpful for nourishing seedlings after they get their first true leaves. Kelp meal can be used as a base or as part of a compost tea, or it can be directly added to garden soil. Sustainably-farmed kelp comes from kelp forests that farmers create, which helps reduce demand on wild harvesting. According to the World Wildlife Fund, “Kelp is a powerful carbon sink, pulling large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it grows. It is one of the only foods that has a negative carbon footprint! Additionally, kelp production requires no freshwater, pesticides or fertilizers.” Small packages of kelp meal (often under $10) can last a long time, especially if your gardener uses it for compost teas that only require a few teaspoons of kelp at a time. $10+

Food, salt, tea, and tincture containers | Gardeners need to preserve their harvests. Whether that’s storing herb-infused olive oils, herb salt blends, teas, homemade body care products, or tinctures, Mountain Rose Herbs has every possible storage container you can imagine. Pretty cobalt glass jars, decorative cork-topped glasses, amber dropper bottles (which I’ve used for my propolis tinctures and for making my own food extracts), reusable muslin or steel tea infusers, lotion pumps, and herbal seeds too. Also, free seed alert! Mountain Rose Herbs recently announced that they’re now adding free seeds of at-risk plants to all orders (while supplies last). The program, the Seed Stewardship Project, is a partnership with United Plant Savers and aims to help educate people and re-establish plant populations. A lovely thing about Mountain Rose Herbs is that they employ several admirable good corporate citizenship efforts beyond this new seed program. They launched a Zero Waste Program 15 years ago that reduces, reuses, and composts all of the company’s waste. They operate out of a LEED-certified space in Oregon, acquired fair trade certification, and commit to responsible packaging. $15+

I bottled my latest cardamom extract in an amber glass dropper. I’ve also used these same bottles for tinctures from the propolis I harvest from my hives and echinacea from my garden.

Passive irrigation tools | I use a few passive irrigation systems, from inverted wine bottles and water spikes to Oya™ Watering Pots, which help to preserve consistent watering all season, and also help support plants when we go away for a weekend. Oya Water Pots can be buried in in-ground gardens, raised beds, or grow bags. They’re ideally added during dormant seasons or at the beginning of the growing season so that plants aren’t disturbed. You fill the pots with water and they slowly, passively leach water into the soil. If the soil is already wet (from rain or your own active watering), the pots naturally self-regulate and won’t oversaturate the soil. $35+

Soil block maker | If I wasn’t creating this list in ascending price order, I would put this at the top of this gardener gift list. I got a soil block maker maybe 2 or 3 years ago. This tool allows you to create clusters of soil blocks that are pre-pressed and ready to be seeded. Not only does that reduce time in pressing in spaces for seeds, but growing seedlings in soil blocks allows more airflow in root development (think of roots like lungs), and supports minimal root disturbance when transplanting seedlings. Unlike small-cell trays or seedling trays where roots can get bound as the seedlings grow, soil blocks promote healthy growth. This tool also prevents the need for excess plastic. Other than a reusable seedling tray and a reusable stacking tray with holes, no other plastic is needed. $45+

Dehydrator | Along the theme of food preservation, gardeners need a variety of ways to store food. Freezing food is quick and easy, but not everyone has extra freezer space. There’s also a risk of food loss if the power goes out. (More about this food storage threat in my gift guide for foodies next week.) I’ve mentioned my love of Excalibur Dehydrators in several posts and it deserves a spot here. I’ve shared how I use the dehydrator for making my own dog treats, and it’s usually running for half the week during the growing season to preserve herbs, garlic, tomatoes, apples, peaches, strawberries, and so much more. Canning requires a lot of supervision, but the dehydrator plays well on its own so I can get more done. $150+

Are you planning to buy some gifts for a gardener friend, or did this list make you want to treat yourself for your own garden?

Disclosure
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. I make a small commission from purchases made through these links, at no cost to you. I share products that I know and use.