Gift ideas if you’re growing food without a backyard
Give the gift of growing food to people who live in small spaces. With a few of the right tools, and access to a patch of sun, just about anyone can grow herbs, fruits, and vegetables—no yard required. Happy holidays!
$21.95
Container Garden Seed Box
This collection of heirloom, organic seeds from the Hudson Valley Seed Company includes five of the best small-space vegetable varieties: Lemon Drop Hot Pepper, Little Gem Lettuce Mix, Tiny Tim Tomato, Calendula, and Arugula. I’m a sucker for the beautiful botanical art on their seed packets.
$19.99
Organic Fertilizer
To grow the best possible food in containers, you need to feed your crops with the best possible food. I trust Down to Earth’s Bio-Live blend fertilizer because it’s infused with a diversity of beneficial microorganisms and mycorrhizal fungi. (Thirty species to be exact!) They enhance nutrient uptake, cut down on watering, and boost your plant’s resiliency to pests and diseases. Seriously, sprinkle this stuff on all your potted plants.
$4.95
Biodegradable Pots
Ditch the plastic and avoid transplant shock by starting your precious seeds in 100 percent biodegradable pots made from wood fiber. When seedlings are ready for roomier homes, plant them—pot and all. Roots grow right through the moistened fiber into new soil, resulting in faster and sturdier growth. Buy thirty-six pots for less than five dollars. Affordable!
$7.95 - 18.95
Fabric Grow Bags
Know someone who tends to love their potted plants to death? Gift them these forest green fabric grow bags made by SmartPots, a trusted brand among gardening professionals. The material is porous, which allows for air circulation and minimizes the risk of root rot from overwatering. Because they are breathable, fabric grow bags also take care of living organisms in your soil. Perhaps the best part about these pots is that they’re easy to collapse, fold, and store neatly when not in use.
13.60
Soil Scoops
Filling up containers with potting soil, especially large containers indoors, can be tedious and messy, which is why I love using these handy soil scoops. This stainless steel set includes small, medium, and large sizes.
$18-28
Victory Garden Signs
Come on and join the movement! Declare your support for victory gardens with this beautiful — and healthy — propaganda inspired by the vintage posters of WWII. It’s designed by Joe Wirtheim, illustrator of my second book Growing Good Food: A citizen’s guide to climate victory gardening.
$8.99-12.99
All-Purpose Potting Mix
High-quality potting mixes are few and far between, which explains why I often make my own. But I trust Organic Mechanics All-Purpose Potting Mix, which is certified by the Organic Materials Review Institute and approved by The Rodale Institute. Unlike other potting mixes made from environmentally unfriendly materials like perlite, vermiculite, and peat, this mix is made from coconut coir and rice hulls. Plus, this fluffy stuff is alive with beneficial microbes that will keep your plants healthy.
$36.99
LED Grow Lights
Growing indoors? Chances are your plants will appreciate extra light. I recommend investing in LED lights, since they save energy and don’t get too hot. These user-friendly lights clip onto any hard surface, like a table, and have adjustable arms so the height can be adjusted as plants grow. Use the timer to keep the lights on for three, nine, or twelve hours at a time.
$24.99
Veg Ledge
Take your kitchen herb garden to the next level, literally. For indoor gardeners tight on space, these clear, sturdy shelves that suction cup to windows will maximize your growing space vertically. Don’t worry about plants crashing down. I know from personal experience these shelves are really hard to unstick—my Veg Ledge is still on the walls of my old house!
$24.95
Plant Caddy
For gardeners cranking out food in large planters, or growing heavy dwarf trees, a plant caddy is essential. Try this square, cedar one from Gardener’s Supply Company. When it’s time to move your planters indoors or outdoors, this caddy makes it a breeze. It rolls over decks and carpet and can support up to 200 pounds.
books BY ACADIA TUCKER
Growing Good Food
This is a handbook for growing a Victory Garden when the enemy is global warming. By building carbon-rich soil, we can capture greenhouse gases and mitigate climate change. This is also a plain-spoken guide to growing your own organic vegetables, fruits, and herbs. It includes advice on how to prep soil, compost, mulch, plant food, and boost resilience, plus guides to growing fruit trees, herbs, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, garlic, lettuce, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach, and more.
$19.95
Tiny Victory Gardens
This book makes it possible for anyone with access to a patch of sun to grow and harvest food—year round, if you’d like. It includes step-by-step guidance on finding the right containers (there are wrong ones), prepping your soil, growing plants indoors and outdoors, and raising small-scale farms. It profiles 21 crops that are easy to grow in containers, including tomatoes, lemon trees, and avocados, and offers recipes for cultivating mini-farms in pots, with names like Tiny Herb Garden, Griller’s Choice, and Beans, Bees, and Butterflies. Release date: February 15, 2021.
$19.95
Growing Perennial Foods
Here’s an easy-to-understand field guide to growing perennial foods in your own backyard. Sturdy and deep-rooted, perennials are low-maintenance and can weather climate extremes more easily than annuals. The book includes instructions on soil prep, planting, and composting. But most of it is dedicated to profiles of 34 popular herbs, fruits, and vegetables, with instructions on how to plant, grow, and harvest each one, plus recipes. This book is for anyone who has never grown food before, and wants to start.
$19.95
BOOKS
