Need gift ideas for a gardener

[Katie93]

I'm trying to think if Christmas gift ideas for my father. He has a big garden where he tries to grow vegetables and other plants. His yields have been disappointing so far, but he still enjoys it and spends about an hour every morning working out there. His house is on the Florida Gulf Coast, right off the Intercoastal Waterway, so I think that could be part of his problem. So anyway, I was thinking something for his garden would make a good gift. Any suggestions?

thanks,

Katie

[nofeargardener]

I think a gift certificate to an online seed company or garden supply place would be a great gift! OR.. if he has a favorite local nursery that he goes to, you could get a gift certificate from there. I'd personally love a gift like that!

You may want to also check online and see if there's a good book or DVD out there that discusses some of the challenges of gardening in his particular area. Also, I just googled "Gulf Coast Gardening" and right on the first page of results were a couple pages devoted solely to Gulf Coast Gardening. One of them was a gulf coast gardening forum that he may want to think about joining. Hope this helps! :D

[Mr Yan]

Books on gardening are a stand by. Region specific, as nofear mentioned, are great; I reach for my The Midwest Fruit and Vegetable Book a lot.

What is his humor type? I like the random gnome, flamingo, and gargoils in my veg garden. Could be great idea but can be a spectacular failure too. My inlaws don't garden at all but have a few Detroit Tigers gnomes around the house.

Good seed companies also send out nice catalogs which are packed with info. Johnny seeds just sent me 2012's and I'll keep it just for the info. Maybe beyond just the gift card tuck one of these catalogs in with it. Again see if there is a local(ish) company.

An Earthbox if budget allows.

There are Florida veg specific blogs and forums. One that I watch is http://floridatomatoes.blogspot.com/ in attempts to fight cabin fever.

[miles.o]

How about a beautiful vegetable plant that he can tend to and grow?