OK, this is your last chance to get a Christmas gift for your gardener or outdoor naturalist. Here are some quick but nice options.
I have a “glove” affair with gloves. Leather gloves are great, and insulated leather gloves are even better for cold weather chores. On the other hand, I really like the cloth gloves that have been dipped in rubber or plastic so that the palm and the front of the fingers is waterproof. Buy a five-pack of these gloves. Gardening gloves that are completely waterproof keep in the sweat and they start to stink. The open cloth back on the other gloves lets the sweat out but it also lets in the mud and water. That is why you need a five-pack. As the gloves get too muddy or wet, just set them in the sun to dry and put on another pair.
When the gloves fail a soft brush to clean out the dirt under the fingernails is a great tool. Scented hand lotion from The Naked Bee has all of the good stuff and none of the bad stuff to keep the gardener’s skin from drying out.
As any current or former Boy Scout will tell you, sharp tools are safer than dull tools. If it is supposed to cut, then it should cut without being forced. Forcing a sharp tool leads to blades that slip or break. Gardeners use a lot of sharp tools. Pruners, loppers, shears, knives, axes, hatchets, mower blades, multitools and scissors are all gardening tools.
Your Boy Scout can help you sharpen your tools with a wet stone, but if you don’t have a Boy Scout handy you can use the Byers All-in-1 Pruner, Knife & Tool Sharpener. It can sharpen all of your garden tools. A lot of hardware store carry it.
Gardeners and birders both enjoy hummingbirds. The best type of hummingbird feeder is the saucer shaped one. It puts the nectar below the feeding port holes so insects can’t get to the nectar. They are the easiest to clean and fill.
Many vegetable gardeners also like to cook their produce, so make a combined basket that fits both hobbies. Find a basket, bowl or colander in the kitchen section, along with a soup spoon, ladle or other accessories. Next, visit the garden section to add some seed packages, a few peat moss pots, a pair of gloves and a package of plant labels. Add a bow and some ribbon and you have a great gift package.
Another hobby of many gardeners is photography. Flowers and birds are both very colorful. Flowers don’t move and are easier to photograph than birds. Anyone wanting to learn professional techniques of bird photography should read “The Art of Bird Photography” by Arthur Morris. It is back in print. Art has updated the subject matter for digital cameras with “The Art of Bird Photography II.” The second book is available on a CD or as an electronic download. They are available in the store section of birdsasart.com.
If your gardener is not a cook, you can still make a gift package. Every gardener needs buckets. If you can’t find a pretty one, that’s OK; a hardware store bucket is still useful. Add a small package of fertilizer, some tomato seeds, a small pruner, or trowel, a bundle of gloves, a ball of twine, some plant labels and a gift card to the local garden center. If you know what kind of plants the gardener likes, you can add a plant but don’t wrap it until the night before you are giving it. Merry Christmas!
