12 Days of Gifts for the Gardener in Your Life!

Or if YOU are the gardener, send this list to those who love you and are asking, “What can I get you?” Every year during the holidays, I struggle to think of gifts I might need in general, and then in the spring I think – shoot! I should have asked for garden stuff! Garden gifts may have to sit around for a few months until it’s time to use them, but once you need them, you’ll be so glad you don’t have to run out and buy them.

So here we go! 12 Gifts for Gardeners!

DAY ONE. If you are going to start seeds this winter, a 3-piece seed starting tray will make everything easy – especially if you are planning on following along as I post “how-to” videos and you’ll have the same set up I use. This set is a great bargain – a set of 5 trays that comes in 3 parts: a seed cell tray with holes for drainage, a tray underneath for water, and a clear dome to trap heat and moisture. (about $20) You’ll also need a small bag of potting soil. Don’t buy a giant bag! A little goes a long way. If you need to buy seeds, I highly recommend Baker Creek Seeds for quality and variety. I’ve been ordering from them for almost 15 years.

DAY TWO Wanna make seed starting as easy as possible – Get a heat-mat. I’m not big on gadgets for my garden, but when I find something that makes a big difference and go back to it year after year, I know it’s something I want to recommend. This mat heats your seed tray to the perfect temperature and speeds germination for your seeds. I’ve seen seeds sprout quickly and consistently for years. I’ll be posting instructions for how to get the most out of it. It’s waterproof; you can use it over and over and I even loan mine to friends sometimes if I’m not starting anything during a particular week. It’s a fun way to up your seed-starting game! (about $20)

DAY THREE You are going to thank me for this one! People always ask me about weed control because, seriously, who likes pulling weeds? This scuffle hoe is one of my favorite garden tools because it cuts down on my weeding chores dramatically. There is a slight blade on the lower rim of the stirrup so when I drag it across the dirt in between my plants, it cuts off all the weeds! Amazing! I use it about every three days in my beds and I don’t recall how I lived without it. Worth every penny! (about $30)

DAY FOUR I have such garden hose issues! I have only one spigot in my yard and my yard is pretty big. This means I constantly have hoses draped over fences, around trees, trying to reach the parts of my garden I’m interested in watering (at least the parts where I don’t have a soaker hose). And I HATE rolling the hoses back up which means I almost never do. I’ve lost count of the hoses I’ve lost because I left one out and the lawnmower damaged it. I’ve had my eye on this retractable 130 foot heavy duty hose for a while and the holidays seem like just the time to ask for it.

DAY FIVE Luxury or necessity? You decide. All I know is I LOVE trellises! They can make a garden go from purely functional to beautiful instantly. I used them all over my garden to support plants here and there and add formal garden touches to my vegetable and flower gardens. I must own dozens after all these years, but these two are my favorites and I recommend them all the time. This garden obelisk is tall and looks way more expensive than it really is. I use these for trailing green bean plants or climbing flowers. And this sphere trellis is a classic! – perfect for making your simple pots look professional and high-end for very little money. I also love that these are made from recycled plastic and come with an option for lighting. Play with trellises in your garden – you’ll be surprised by the change they make in the way your garden looks! (about $45 each)

DAY SIX This is going to sound crazy, but did you know that almost 40% of the food we grown in the United States get wasted? Forty percent! And much of it ends up in landfills where it breaks down and releases methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas. Instead, it could be nourishing your soil and feeding your garden. It is pretty simple really. I keep this little kitchen compost bin on the floor near my kitchen island (you can keep it outside too, but if you have heavy rain, it might fill up with water at some point) and I fill it with all the scraps from my meal prep. Instead of tossing cauliflower stems or onion ends in the trash, I pile them in this odorless little container. If my cilantro or red peppers go bad in my vegetable crisper before I can eat them, those go in too. When it gets full, I take it out back and dump it in my outdoor compost bin where it will break down naturally into rich compost for my garden. It’s a win-win! Less garbage, free healthy soil. Good for the planet too! (bout $20)

DAY SEVEN Okay, so fertilizer may be the weirdest gift you give this year, but the gardener in your life will be so happy! This one bottle of concentrated fish fertilizer is enough to take care of your entire garden for the whole season. It’s organic and it really works! For more information, check out my post on how to fertilize your garden safely! Here is a quick link for a watering can in case the gardener in your life doesn’t have one – I use it to dilute and apply the fertilizer in my garden.(about $20)

DAY EIGHT Let’s face it; gardening is hard work. I’m not saying I don’t love it, because I do, but every now and then I like to make things easier. This crazy tool I picked up last year makes planting garlic, tulip bulbs, seedling and annuals quick and easy! You’ll need a regular cordless power drill like this one. (Ladies, if you don’t have a drill and know how to use it, you NEED to!) This spiral planting drill bit fits right on the drill and you’re on your way. I never imagined I would use a tool like this, but now I’m kind of obsessed. This is a particularly helpful product if your gardener is older and getting down to dig in the dirt is getting harder. I have no such excuse – I just think it’s fun! (about $20)

DAY NINE Gloves! They are like socks for a gardener. We keep buying them and they keep disappearing! Or if we are lucky enough to keep them around, they wear out after one season and opening a fresh pair is so wonderful – so full of potential for a new year in the garden. I don’t always wear gloves for detailed work in the garden, but they are invaluable when I need to pull stubborn weeds or I’m dealing with thorns. New gloves are one of the least expensive ways to make a gardener’s day. Here are some great choices: cow hide gloves for gardeners doing serious gardening and shoveling. For the gardener who likes something soft and pretty, this is a great deal on three pairs. And my personal favorite – Just can’t get enough of these! They are tough and flexible and last all season. ($9 – $15)

DAY TEN You know how I ended up with this pH/temperature tester? It was a gift! And I probably never would have thought to purchase this for myself. I like to perform pH tests myself and I usually guess on soil temperature. But once I was given this, I started messing around with it and I found it pretty helpful. I use it for quick pH tests all over my garden and then when I see something that concerns me, I can run a more thorough test with this kit that I have been using for year. It saves me the time and trouble of running dozens of tests that are often unnecessary. I also found that I could control the success of transferring tender seedlings out into the garden if I wasn’t sure of the soil temp, rather than guessing. (and if you want to learn to do proper soil testing for nutrients and ph, check out my post on this subject!

DAY ELEVEN When you first plant your garden, it’s hard to imagine that there will be so much food in your garden that you won’t be able to carry it all! Sometimes I even use my shirt to create a little pouch to carry tomatoes back into the house! But what I use most of the time is a garden basket that is a as pretty as it is functional. Load it up with herbs, peppers, lettuce, eggplant – even eggs if you are keeping chickens. And here’s the reason I use this rather than a solid basket – lots of veggies have dirt on them from either growing in direct contact with the soil (carrots, radishes, potatoes) indirect contact (like green beans or lettuce leaves laying on the soil surface) and you’ll need to rinse them off. With this basket, I can just load it up, give it a good spray with the hose, and let it dry in the sun for a few minutes before bringing it inside. And then it still looks chic sitting on my kitchen counter. I use this one. ($18) But this one is cute too!($7)

DAY TWELVE How much do you love your gardener? Cuz this is the BIG ONE. For years and years I longed for a greenhouse. It just sounded so expensive. Everything affordable looked cheap and poorly made and everything beautiful was soooooo expensive. But I wanted to extend my growing season and have a place to work in cold weather. Finally, four years ago, I decided it was time to buy something. I did a ton of homework, read reviews of probably hundreds of set-ups. I picked a size I thought would be right for my property and gave up on the idea of a grand glass and brick greenhouse (sigh…maybe someday). I kept coming back to this greenhouse because the reviews were so good. The only complaint was from people who had not firmly attached the structure to the ground. Apparently, in a big storm or high wind, this style of greenhouse will take flight and once damaged, it’s not returnable. Okay, I thought. I can handle that. Once the kit arrived, my husband helped me assemble it. The polycarbonate “windows” slid into the frames easily and we used a simple frame made of 4’x4’s on the ground to secure it. It is tall enough to comfortably stand in and it has a roof vent to let out heat on hot days and help control the interior temperature.

After using it for four years, it is still in perfect condition and I use it ALL THE TIME! Standing in the greenhouse in February with some music on, starting seeds and messing around with new garden ideas is my idea of a good time. If you can afford to bless your gardener with a greenhouse like this, you’ll be enjoying the gratitude of your garden lover for years. (Plus, it’s a great place to store all those garden items on the list from 1-11!)

So there you have it – twelve terrific gifts to get your favorite gardener ready for a new season. Happy holidays to you and your family. Wishing you a blessed and healthy new year from Toni Farmer’s Garden!

(Some of these links to products are affiliate links, meaning if you purchase them, I get a tiny little bit of the sale. It’s not much, but I thought you should know. I don’t recommend products I don’t believe in and I try and offer free options from recycled products whenever possible)