Gifts from the garden are personal, economical, and distinctive. Organic gardeners can use their harvest to give a gift made locally and without harming the earth.
Use Dried Flowers to Make Sachets or Potpourri
Sachet consists of a fragrant dried flower product bound in beautiful cloth; potpourri is the same product kept loose in a dish or jar. Gardeners may notice that the fragrance of dried flowers from their garden isn’t very strong, so use a few drops of essential oil to enhance the scent.
Herbal Sugars
White sugar infused with herbs from the organic garden makes an excellent addition to tea, cakes, and cookies. Crush two tablespoons of fresh herbs, like mint, lavender, or lemon balm, and add to 2 cups of sugar. Stir every day to distribute the essences, and remove the herbs after a week.
Homemade Flower Paper
Gardeners looking for a new hobby that combines recycling and flowers should try papermaking. The art requires no more than a blender to create the pulp and a frame to dry the sheets. Gardeners can then embed dried flowers, seeds, and other garden elements.
Preserves or Home Canned Produce
Gardeners who rely on home canned produce to get through the winter may think this is a utilitarian gift, but non-gardeners will welcome a gift of organic homemade salsa or canned peaches. Tie a ribbon to the jar, and include recipes for usage if appropriate.
Houseplant Cuttings
Houseplants are expensive, but gardeners who know how to propagate plants can create dozens of new plants from cuttings or divisions. Present this gift in a glazed pot filled with homemade soil mix.
Seed Packets
Gardeners who save seeds from the organic garden can make them part of a themed seed-starting gift basket for a friend. Include a bag of compost, a seed-starting tray, and some organic fertilizer.
Pressed Flower Candles
No advanced candle-making skills are necessary to place pressed flowers from the garden on a pillar candle. Gardeners can melt a votive candle in the same color as the pillar candle, and apply melted wax to the flower with a paintbrush. Quickly adhere the flower to the candle, and apply another layer of wax to seal the flower. Repeat as needed.
Herbal Oils & Vinegars
Gardeners can make herbal oils for cooking by sautéing ½ cup of chopped fresh herbs in one cup of olive oil. Strain the oil, and keep the oil refrigerated. The recipient must use the oil within three weeks to ensure wholesomeness.
Herbal vinegar has an indefinite shelf life. Steep a bottle of apple cider vinegar with one cup of chopped herbs for 2 weeks, and then strain the vinegar. Gardeners can experiment by adding spices like pepper or anise to the herbal mixture.
Jamie McIntosh - Jamie has written hundreds of garden articles for the web, and is your guide to Flowers on About.com.
