Gardening Christmas presents, anyone?

Hope everyone had a safe & happy Christmas yesterday.

Did anyone besides me get gardening gifts?

DH, that wonderful, sneaky man, got me electrical conduit so that I can put up a "hoop house" on the beds like so many of you have.  Turns out he stood in the rain at HD cutting some of it into pieces to act as support for the main pipes.

Yes, as soon as I get it put up, I'll post pictures!

How about the rest of you??

I got a lovely little four wheeled garden trailer that has a water holding plastic body with the front wheels on a turn table arrangement for Alison & HollyRobyn.

Cor!    It must be a month or more since I assembled it and made it fully  water tight , then hid it from myself out in the log cabin .   I can take the trash out to the collection point on Sunday , its special Christmas time collection given out for us  via the Internet site of the local authority .

 I also got a most welcome garden book that I also had to hide out in the office from myself .
 It's called the New vegetable & herb expert  by DG Hessayon   ( ISBN code 978-0-903-50575-8  )

 It's about time I fully moved into the 21 st Century with this useful paperback as it has details & tips for all common crops & gives the latest varieties of them .

Like the book title says it also has  an interesting herb section and how to raise them . This is good for both Alison & I are becoming a lot more adventurous with our day to day cooking .

 We've found some of the herbs  really do make a pleasant enhancing difference to the end products . So have decided to grow a lot more of our own rather than have the supermarkets hydroponic grown stuff that's several days old by the time we get it. The difference between our home grow herbs & theirs is remarkable .

I bought myself two early Christmas presents while they were on sale.  Microgreen supplies and an Aerogarden.  I was also given a book on growing mushrooms and a set of real pretty Cuisinart Knives to help cut up the veggies from my garden.  Hope they work as well as they look.

Compost Thermometer:
Disappointed my pile was cooler than I wanted , but I got a cool thermometer now!
 

Compost Tumbler:
YIMBY, 5 gallon (total) compost tumbler.  Now I can play with one of these in addition to my current pile system.

Nice!

I got a 5 shelf metal unit and (2) 48inch T8 compatible shop lights on chains for starting my seeds in the basement, and a timer! Now the boys have to put it together for me, and I will be ready to start some seeds in February-ish. Will need to research that, as I don't want to start them too soon or too late.

Am really excited about that, as I read my seed catalogs and Four Season Harvest. Might have to ask for my own copy of that book for my birthday!

Nice, Scorpio.  Enjoy.

I have read the rest of this thread. Happy for you all, whether given to you by loved ones or by yourself to yourself.

I got Veg Journal by Charles Dowding and the great big Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog.

I did not get any purely gardening gifts this year, although the welcome gift of an electrical drill will allow me to make some more boxes for SFG, so I am going to give myself a little gift of some hot house chrysanthemums to brighten up my living room.

The reason I wanted some is that a few years ago I was given a plant, and that plant after flowering indoors, I placed in the garden but to my regret it never got to bloom again before the frost nipped the buds to death.

Then the third year it got to that stage, I tried cutting the flowers, still in tiny bud, and placing them indoors.  To my delight, these buds grew into some lovely flowers and lasted at least six weeks to brighten up the beginning of winter, and the plants still in the garden grew again and once more the cycle began.

The reason I particularly like these flowers is they always remind me of my dear foster-father who was the main inspiration for me to be a gardener.

That is sweet, Kelejan! I love the smell of chrysanthemums, spicy and nice.

SFG has broadened my gardening experience once again.  I have a new gadget for Christmas, a Food Saver Vacuum Sealer and two more books. I'll add the titles to the other post, 'Winter Reading, Anyone?".

llama momma wrote:SFG has broadened my gardening experience once again.  I have a new gadget for Christmas, a Food Saver Vacuum Sealer and two more books. I'll add the titles to the other post, 'Winter Reading, Anyone?".

I love my foodsaver.  Over the last few years I have been freezing most of my veggies and dehydrating some.  I am just now starting to pressure can.

You guys got some really great presents!  Herblover, I so want the big Bakers Creek Catalog!  I may have to buy it for myself.

I bought myself this for xmas:




It was kind of extravagant; I don't usually buy expensive stuff like this for myself.  But hubby got a nice bonus at work and split it with me, so I figured it was about time I bought myself something nice for a change.  It's a cool little raised garden  (it has 6 inches of growing space, plus storage space underneath), and clear cover on top, so it's kind of like a mini raised greenhouse.  I'm so excited to try it with peppers this year!  Maybe I can actually get them to grow for me, since it's too cold here for them to grow for me without covers.  I just put it together today and it looks great!  I'm half tempted to plant some lettuce in there, lol.

Kelejan,
 We used to have indoor crysanths , they always smelt of cat pee.

 When ever I brought Alison a bunch from the flower shop or a bunch of  some I cut from our garden.
It was always the same ..put them in a vase of water and within minutes they smelt of cat pee.
 
 One day Alison came home with a bunch she'd brought herself , I watched her as she put them in a water filled vase on the coffee table by my armchair , then went to make a cup of tea .... Whereupon our 10 yr old cat " DAPP " , jumped on the coffee table and sprayed  pee all over them & me before I could get out of the line of fire.

 I shouted,  "DAPP , you nice pussy cat,  go away " or words to that effect ...
Al came rushing in to see the cat jumping off the table , saw a puddle , smelt the pee a and nearly pee'd herself laughing .

 So If you have a moggy  Be warned !

Plantoid, that is hysterical! No wonder.....

Julie, that set up is sweet! I would be planting some salad leaves ASAP!

CotheK, great score!

The 2 books by Sally Fallon were from daughter.  The big book from me. I'm not exactly a health nut but reading these can not hurt me, right? Who knows, I might even learn something new.

Ooooo...  NICE, Sanderson!  Please post anything interesting-looking.  (I see a trip to the library in my future to look for those...)

Those books are beautiful, Sanderson! And you are right, can't hurt, might help.

Nice presents, Sanderson!  I have Nourishing Traditions; it's a great resource if you're trying to eat a whole food diet.  I don't exactly follow everything she says (because I'm lazy!), but I certainly keep it in mind.  Let us know how the other books are too!

My hubby got me two areogardens since our apartment get no direct sunlight . I'm so excited to grow things again.

Nice!

mschaef wrote:My hubby got me two areogardens since our apartment get no direct sunlight . I'm so excited to grow things again.

I spent a long time looking at those last night after reading that!  Those look really cool!  I was tempted to buy one for myself (how cool would it be to have fresh lettuce in the middle of winter?), but in the end I decided to wait on it.  Let us know how the aerogarden works out for you!

littlesapphire wrote:

mschaef wrote:My hubby got me two areogardens since our apartment get no direct sunlight . I'm so excited to grow things again.

I spent a long time looking at those last night after reading that!  Those look really cool!  I was tempted to buy one for myself (how cool would it be to have fresh lettuce in the middle of winter?), but in the end I decided to wait on it.  Let us know how the aerogarden works out for you!

 I have an AeroGarden and as I also have no direct sunlight until late February it is pleasant to have it in the corner of my living-room with its splash of green and welcome bright light.

Sanderson, nice books for Christmas.  I love making broth especially when people are kind enough to give me their turkey carcasses. I have had two so far and after stripping as much meat as possible, then I pressure cook it and use the broth in soups.

Two promised for New Year's Day.  I am always surprised how much meat is left on a carcass.  My latest turkey weighed about three pounds, and I got two pounds of meat off it for my dog, and about six cups of stock. With the leftover veggies in my fridge, I made three containers of soup, one of which I will give to a friend who never cooks, the second to her friend who gave me the carcass who said she would have just thrown it away.  Perhaps I can encourage both of them to do something with a turkey
instead of wasting it.