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Garden Talk: Gift for Gardeners and Green Living

Air Date:
Heard On The Larry Meiller Show

Who’s on your holiday gift list? If you have gardners or people interested in sustainable living to buy for, tune in to Garden Talk when Judith Siers-Poisson gets ideas for all budgets.

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  • Green Gifts Available For The Holidays

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    Santa Claus might check his list for who’s been naughty or nice, but two Wisconsin sisters have a list of their own.

    Astrid Newenhouse is a senior scientist in the Environmental Resources Center and the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her sister, Sonya Newenhouse, is president of Community Car, LLC. Both have a deep commitment to and interest in sustainable living.

    Each year, the sisters put together a list of green gifts to fit any price range. They encourage shoppers to “look for these gifts at your local garden center or hardware store. If not available, check the mail order companies listed. Source is listed for items that are difficult to find locally.”

    Here is this year’s list:

    Gifts Under $10

    • “Building and Using Cold Frames” and/or “Improving Your Soil” Handbooks $3.99, www.growingorganic.com (Peaceful Valley store, CA)
    • Eco Watering Spout, new design to make a watering can from a plastic bottle $6, Womanswork
    • Easy Turn Tap Grip for faucet, $3.50 many places and also Lee Valley, Ogdensburg, NY (a Canadian company)
    • Mesh bags for onions etc $5-7.50, Seed Savers
    • Canning funnel
    • Nail brush
    • Soil and Compost thermometer
    • Stainless Steel Apple Wedger $9.95, www.realgoods.com
    • “Pesticide free zone” sign for lawn or yard, Beyond Pesticides
    • Amaryllis bulb in a pot or tulip, hyacinth, and narcissus bulbs for indoors
    • Double hose connector so one faucet can handle two hoses
    • Good quality tape measure for home or field
    • Seeds
    • New types of garden gloves, nitrile, flexible, or cushioned, or fit to women (see Womanswork)
    • Fair trade mittens, scarves, hats, $9-12, Fair Indigo (800) 520-1806
    • Naughty Goat Soaps, Under A Rock Farm, LaFarge WI
    • Organic maple syrup, sugar, maple cream or candy, www.MapleValley.coop (800) 760-1449
    • Reusable bowl covers
    • Eco pots made from grain husks, $9, Gardeners Supply
    • Traditional paste glue, $4.95, Lee Valley

    Gift Ideas $10-25

    • Folding pruning saw, also for camping, Fiskars, $15
    • Mechanical water timer for faucet
    • BeesWrap Beeswax and cloth food storage alternative to plastic wrap, and other wraps for food
    • Cherry-It Pitter pits 4 cherries at once $15, Bed Bath and Beyond
    • Hip holster for tools, phone, $16, Womans Work, others
    • Hori Hori Knife, (cross between a trowel and a knife) $22 Gardener’s Edge, others
    • Soji Solar Lantern, white 10’ round $21.99, Real Goods
    • Bare root trees, fruits, perennials locally or check Fedco coop in Maine
    • Leonard soil knife, $18, GardenersEdge
    • Melon and squash cradles for the ‘perfect unblemished melon’ $12.50, Gardeners Supply
    • White floating row cover fabric or Reemay for veggies , local garden center or garden catalog
    • Support hoops for row cover fabric on veggies, $15, Gardeners Supply
    • Raised bed corner brackets (metal), Lee Valley or Gardeners Supply
    • Pot maker: a form to make seedling pots w/ newspaper, $12, Lee Valley or Gardeners Supply
    • Bushel Basket with handles, $14.99, www.groworganic.com
    • Rotary tool sharpener for hoes, spades, to use with your drill, $16, Johnny’s Selected Seeds
    • Collapsible canvas bucket, $16.90, Lee Valley
    • Radius Junior Spade 36”or Rake 39” $16.50, Lee Valley
    • Over-the-sink-colander, $17.50,Lee Valley
    • Siphon to empty rain barrel or garden pond, $13, Lee Valley
    • Min max thermometer
    • Metal plant labels
    • Canning funnel, stainless steel, $12, household stores or Lehmans
    • Canning One Handed Jar Lifter, $9.50, Lehmans
    • UW Extension gives local classes on food preservation
    • Hummingbird feeders, all kinds
    • Wire suet or fruit spirals (3), $10, Gardeners Supply
    • Downspout diverter for rainbarrel, $20, Gardener’s Edge
    • Tupperware sandwich keeper, $12 for 2
    • To-Go stainless steel tins for carrying food, $20, Green Feet (888) 562-8873
    • Glass food containers for leftovers, Vermont Country Store
    • Hanging pocket shoe organizer for tools, gloves, seeds
    • Orchard Mason bee nests for pollination, several places including Garden Supply, Lee Valley
    • Seedling Sprayer, $16.50, Lee Valley
    • Soil Scoop for container gardening, $19.90, Lee Valley
    • Transplant Knife, Lee Valley
    • Knee pads or kneeling pads of all sorts, new version has memory foam
    • Soji Solar Lantern, white 10’ round $21.99, Real Goods Catalog
    • Stainless steel compost pail for kitchen counter, $19.95-23.50, Lee Valley
    • Earth Flag, $24.95, Real Goods Catalog
    • A string of LED lights to decorate your house using 90% less heat and energy
    • Good quality min/max thermometer, simple large copper or electronic thermometer or wireless
    • Sprinkler stand, holds it higher up so it works better, $40
    • Noodlehead flexible sprinkler, Gardeners Supply, GardenersEdge
    • Water meter for hose or sprinkler
    • LED headlamp for gardening at night
    • Floral shovel for working in flower beds, $16, GardenersEdge
    • Hand-Crank Coffee Grinder $22, Real Goods Catalog
    • Good quality hand tools such as DeWit cultivator (Dutch made)

    Gift Ideas $25-50

    Gift Ideas $50-100

    Gift Ideas $100 +

    Books and Magazines

    • “Farmstead Chef” Cookbook by Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, $19 http://innserendipity.com
    • “Farm Fresh and Fast,” FairShare CSA Coalition cookbook, $25
    • Michael Pollan’s new book “Cooked, A Natural History of Transformation”
    • “The Year Round Vegetable Gardener,” by Niki Jabbour, $19.99 www.groworganic.com
    • “The Complete Book of Home Preserving”, by Judi Kingri and Lauren Devine $22.95
    • “Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables,” by Mike and Nancy Bubel $14.95
    • “Landscaping with Native Plants of Wisconsin,” by Lynn M. Steiner $24.95 Voyageur Press
    • “Square-Foot Gardening,” by Mel Batholomew $25
    • “The Human Powered Home,” by Tamara Dean, www.Newsociety.com $29 (the author has grain mill, blender, coffee grinder powered by her bicycle)
    • “EnAct: Steps to Greener Living,” by Sonya Newenhouse, $14.95 (second edition) www.enactwi.org (608) 280-0800
    • Set of “Growing Fresh Market Vegetables in WI” series of UW Extension publications
    • HortIdeas email Newsletter $25, Gravel Switch, KY, gwill@mis.net (606) 332-7606
    • “Growing for Market,” $33 800-307 8949
    • Mother Earth News (guide to leading a more sustainable life), $10/yr
    • Mother Earth Living (green lifestyle and design), $14.95/yr
    • Mary Jane’s Farm (simple solutions for every day organic), 19.95/yr
    • “Small Green Roofs: Low-Tech Options for Greener Living,” by Nigel Dunnett, Dusty Gedge, John Little and Edmund Snodgrass, $24.95 Timber Press www.timberpress.co.uk

    Home Made Gifts

    Seed-saver binder (three whole punch sturdy zip lock bags with dividers), Floral stakes or garden stakes made from wire of campaign signs. Cloth napkins, cloth grocery bags, Leopold bench, rain barrels, garden record book, bookmarks, potpourri, wreaths, garlands, soothing neck wrap, homemade soap, oil and vinegar infusions, tinctures, bath salts, window boxes, note cards, pinecone peanut butter bird feeder, trellis of branches or wood, doggie dooley (a method for composting pet waste safely in the garden)

    Gift of Time

    Certificates for services such as soil sampling, tool sharpening, raking, visits to botanic gardens (even in winter), hauling mulch or compost, building a raised bed or trellis, preparing a garden bed, or a massage for the gardener.

    Gift of Classes

    Sources for the Items on the List

    Listeners also added some suggestions to the list, including Trillium Organics, a Wisconsin company offering “USDA Organic body care and all-natural skin care products.”

    Another listener suggestion for organic body products was Kettle Care, which is based in Montana. Another Wisconsin option offered by a listener was honey-based products by Cackle Bee, which can be found at Cluck: The Chicken Store, in Paoli, as well as at other Dane County outlets.

    For an artistic friend, or maybe as a way to make gifts, a listener who identified herself as Deb made a suggestion on Facebook. She shared that she “just purchased 3 microfleur flower presses from Elizabeth’s Flowers, a Wisconsin-based artist. With tax & shipping it came to a couple of bucks cheaper than buying from Amazon.”

Episode Credits

  • Judith Siers-Poisson Host
  • Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
  • Astrid Newenhouse Guest

Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2025, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.

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