Gifts from Your Garden
This morning’s article was filled with ideas for gifts you can given using items from your garden.
Instructions for making all of the ideas mentioned can be found pretty easily by doing an internet search, but I’m also happy to point you the way if you need help.
Does anyone have other good ideas to add to my list?
December 1, 2012 - 7:59 AM
Karen, I take it that’s Peach Jam. Nothing could be nicer to give at X-mas than a jar of that. Nobody has ever turned it down.
I have some grape jelly, blackberry jelly,salsa and also some peach jam that I specifically put in small jars to give as gifts to teachers, friends and families. I agree wdbrand – nobody has ever turned them down.
On another note wdbrand – I just have been outside deadheading my mums and scattering the seeds. I ‘planted’ some in an area where there are none, so we will see if they grow.
Mine always has, but I generally wait til spring to scatter them and then lightly rake them in the mulch. Normally a bumper crop.
Karen, I tried to read your column online today but could never figure out how to find it. So while I was in town today, I bought a copy of the paper and am looking forward to sitting down this evening to read it and your article. (Because of where we live – out in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road – they don’t deliver here. We have to drive to nearest country store to get a copy.)
KM, I finally read your Sat. piece. You touched on giving some of geadens yields as a gift. One thing I do most years is cut my holly tree back and now is a good time. If the berries are full and pretty, I save them and tie up several bunches to give away. Folks get them whether they want them or not. Either way, I trim and prune.
WD, I can’t imagine anyone not being happy with a bit of holly. I cut a bit today for wreaths I was making. I like tucking seed packets in Christmas stockings. A couple of years ago I used photos of my blueberry bushes sticking out of snow along with blueberry leaves I’d pressed in the fall to make Christmas cards…not exactly a gift from the garden but in the same spirit. Bundles of dried herbs (or hickory chips) to throw on the coals when grilling would also be good gifts.
I collect my lavender buds and dry them and then make little lavender sachets and include them in gifts.
Good idea on wood chips for the BBQ grill. I trim my apple trees and cut out old and dead stuff every year, so I’ll save the wood and chip it up, then dry it and give some away.
Lindsey Nair passed on that you need to be careful about making infused oils. She wrote an article about it (http://www.roanoke.com/food/frontburner/wb/296339. Here’s an excerpt from her article:
“The same goes for gifts of homemade infused oils, according to Joe Marcy, head of the department of food science and technology at Virginia Tech. It’s just too much of a risk that botulism bacteria could grow in those oils. If someone gives you a bottle, thank them and put it on a shelf for looks.
But that does not mean you can’t enjoy homemade infused oils, so long as you make them in very small batches. Keep them refrigerated and use them within 10 days, just as you would homemade salad dressing. Don’t worry if the oil gets cloudy or cold in the refrigerator; it’s still good to use within that short period of time.”
Infused vinegar is fine; no worries there.
Doppler Carol: there’s a link to the article archive at the right of the blog, but I do try to remember to come back and put a link in, once the column is available online.