santa, baby: gifts for good gardeners, 2012

DEAR SANTA: The list below is long, but as you can tell (in your great wisdom) it’s not all for me, but for us—for me and my very-well-behaved garden friends who hang out here all year, and always do their chores. Yes, there’s a thing or two with my name on it, and you know which those are (don’t you?). The bulk, though, are things I love and rely upon, things I’m certain my friends would really enjoy–gifts for other gardeners.happy feet!

I HAVE NEVER had a pair of boots that wasn’t hunter green or just plain black, but the madcap, cotton-lined, waterproof boots from Oregon-based Jessica Swift (top left of top photo) made me smile—and $5 from each pair sold will go to helping Charity: Water, a non-profit bringing clean drinking water to developing nations. The boots’ creator runs a new one-woman, crowd-funded business, and inside each boot is as brightly patterned as outside—plus Jessica has added a positive message like “this is the moment—your moment” to the lining, too. Not sure what my dairy-farming neighbors will think if I show up in these babies at the Post Office or General Store, but maybe I’ll take a walk on the wild side and find out. Happy feet, anyone?

gold standard: hose of my dreams

EVERYONE WHO VISITS the garden on Open Days wants one: a super-lightweight, drinking-water-safe, beautifully colored hose (many hues to choose from, including olive and cranberry, shown above, and purple and more). No more dragging around heavy, kinked-up traditional hoses for me the last few years, since I found the made-in-America ones from Water Right Inc., an Oregon-based family business.

stocking-stuffer seeds

IT WOULDN’T be Christmas without a stocking, or a stocking without a seed pack or two stuffed inside. The most

gardening watering seeds gardeners state Oregon