Gifts for gardeners and homesteaders

If you are like me at this time of year you might be googling things like "Christmas gifts for bakers" and "Best gifts for woodworkers", in search of inspiration. Well, let me save you some further googling in terms of the gardeners and homesteaders on your list! Here are some gift ideas they might appreciate.

1. Hori hori knife - it doesn't seem to be super well known but it is so useful - for weeding, harvesting, planting, measuring and more. 
2. Trowel - it has been supplanted by the hori hori knife in my tool kit, but, no gardener would ever say no to an extra trowel. They do tend to get misplaced from time to time
3. A hand crank apple peeler and slicer with suction base (also useful for potato peeling)
4. A palm held peeler - the best all purpose peeler I ever had. It's great for longer jobs and I think would be wonderful for anyone with arthritis or just plain tired hands.
5. Knee pads
6. A fermentation starter kit
7. Canning jars - they have so many uses and we are always running out
8. A nice notebook to keep notes from year to year
9. A produce knife to help with harvesting
10. A harvest bag, it stays pleasantly open when you are picking produce, and doesn't absorb dirt
11. A thermacell to keep the mosquitoes away (the only mosquito deterrent I'd vouch for)
12. A book for example: Le jardin vivrier, Building soil, or the most recent ball book of canning. 
13. A cheese making kit
14. Some gift card options - the local nursery, lee valley, a hardware store, or a Canadian seed distributor
15. A mandolin/dicer/chopper/etc tool (these really work). 
16. A bead organizer to save seeds in
17. A steam canner, for examples the victorio brand
18. A maple syrup starter kit (buckets, lids and spiles...)
19. A big watering can
20. Gardening gloves (they don't last forever!)
21. Kitchen towels with a nice gardening theme
22. Measuring spoons and cups (I feel like you can always use extras!)
23. A mushroom growing kit
24. Seeds for growing sprouts
25. A japanese weeding tool
26. The gift of time! volunteering to come and do a day of planting, weeding, harvesting or canning. Honestly the best gift ever :)

If you are looking for a big ticket item, some ideas to consider would be a pressure canner, dehydrator,  a worm farm, or a steam juicer (but make sure they have the space for these), or shelves and grow lights.

I'm happy to help you find these things or answer questions if you are trying to surprise your favorite gardener