by Lisa Giroday, Sandra Lopuch and Sam Philips | One of the best gifts, in our totally biased opinions, is the gift of growing food. Why not facilitate this awesome gift of the green thumb? Are you perhaps wondering what to give the aspiring gardener who doesn’t know where to start? Or the person who is super stoked on getting an early start in the garden for spring? Thankfully, the needs of a vegetable gardener can be pretty simple. With them in mind, we’re putting a few basic gift ideas out there…

1. The gift of growing – SEEDS

Put together a cohesively themed Seed Collection – you want to give someone some seeds? Theme it accordingly. We like Westcoast Seeds and Stellar Seeds, as they are local and have seeds that are perfect for our Pacific Northwest climate. For example, you could put a pack of three seeds in the beginner gardeners’ stocking: Arugula, Kale, and Mesclun Greens. Get a gardener excited for spring with an “Early Start on Spring Collection”, a grouping of seeds that includes Mustard Greens, French Breakfast Radishes, Sugar Snap Peas, Cilantro, and Corn Salad. Other possibilities include the Heirloom Collection, the Container Collection, te Edible Flowers Collection, the Beekeepers’ Collection, the Herb Collection, the Pizza Topping Collection…and you get the idea. The list is pretty much endless.

Where to Find: Westcoast Seeds and Stellar Seeds.

2. The gift of practicality – TOOLS

Every gardener needs a few tools, even if you’re one of those “hands on” gardeners who use the tool called their hands for most garden tasks. What gardener can even maintain composure when stepping into a place like Lee Valley Tools? Tools are hot. Here are a few we feel a gardener must have:

1. Hand rake
2. Weed fork
3. Trowel

*Or, score this “all in one” Hori Hori knife that does it all  (Find it at Westcoast Seeds orLee Valley Tools)

3. The gift of knowledge – BOOKS

A book is the perfect gift for a gardener of any level of experience. One thing to consider is finding a book that references our local climate if choosing a guide. Here are our collective top 3 favorite, all-round “bibles” that gardeners of various levels of experience can reference:

The Self-Sufficient Gardener, by John Seymour
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades, by Steve Solomon
Backyard Bounty, by Linda Gilkeson

Where to Find: Homesteaders Emporium has a wealth of homesteading guides on growing food, composting, preserving and the like. Westcoast Seeds has a few of our favorite gardening books as well, including many books on veggie growing in small spaces.

And, lastly, in shameless self-promotion, we are available for hire if you want to give the gift of a one-on-one coaching session. Just sayin’. Happy Holidays!

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Victory Gardens is a team of local urban farmers for hire. Lisa, Sandra and Sam help transform tired or underused residential and commercial green spaces into food producing gardens. Their goal is to challenge the way communities use space and to participate in the change needed to consume food more sustainably. For the rest of the growing season, they’ve hooked up with Scout to share some cool tips and tricks on how to get the best from of our own backyards.