It is December (already) and Christmas is lurking around the corner like a tinsel clad, benevolent bogeyman dripping with cranberry sauce and liqueur chocolates.
You know that perennial question “what would you like for Christmas”? It was all so very easy when I was a child. I always had a list of things without which life would be unbearable. One particular Christmas (around 1966), I remember the choice was between a Johnny Seven or a Secret Sam. Both were complicated weapons systems that fired plastic bullets and rubbery missiles. Those of you who are male and of a certain age will definitely remember them. As a teenager, it became even simpler: an envelope containing crisp notes rather than trusting the dubious tastes of one’s relatives. A mother’s idea of a cool T-shirt was always, always completely wrong.
Nowadays I have grown out of most toys (unless you count snazzy gadgets) and my tastes are far more practical. I take refuge in those garden essentials that are really boring but without which life would be a great deal more difficult and less enjoyable. So, for those interested, here are my top five Christmas presents.
Really warm socks. I have a fantastic, hard wearing pair of mohair socks that are perfect in boots and a gorgeously soft cashmere pair for shuffling around the house restoring the circulation. (I really am getting old and boring if I can get excited by socks.)
A small stainless steel border fork. Not much good for heavy digging but for working amongst plants it is absolutely perfect. Other indispensible tools include my plastic leaf rake that is excellent for leaves, borders and paths. Much better than the wire tined version.
A large plastic dustbin. Perfect for hedge clippings, rose prunings and anything else (provided it is not too heavy). Often much better than a wheelbarrow (especially if your garden has any steps). In the same parcel I would accept some large plastic buckets for collecting weeds and other, non-compostable, stuff.
Almost anything from the catalogue of Crug Farm Plants. This is a wonderful nursery in North Wales stuffed with exotic plants of which I have never heard, from Aesculus wangii to Zingiber mioga ‘Crug’s Zing’.
String: ideally tarred twine because it smells so good. I would like lots of it so wherever I look it will be easy to find. Those paper wrapped packages can, however, turn into a terrible tangle if you pull the wrong end or they get too wet, so I put them in old coffee tins with holes drilled in their lids. The loose end protrudes and any tangling and unravelling is safely confined.
I would add a subscription to Gardeners’ World Magazine but that could be perceived as oiling up to my employers.
You probably have other, much better ideas.
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Hello James, as a very messy “potter-upper”, a set of pot/seed tray tampers in various sizes were a real bonus last year. I always intended to make my own but never got round to it. The socks sound good though. Merry Christmas.
Manure.
That’s what I’d like, rather than a critique of your post.
i once gave my dad a ball of string for christmas. I was four and convinced that’s what he wanted. Not sure I got that quite right.
last year I got a ball of twine on a spindle and a pair of scissors a stainless steel trowel and fork, christmas heaven!!!!!!
When the days are cold and stormy, I just get out my garden planters and create – either great arrangements for the house or wonderful containers for those Christmas towels and soaps in the bathroom.
Christmas pressies this year are wellies for daughter and son-in-law with thick socks so I can have mine back, Dad some pruning tools as he’s mislaid his thats through his old age, I want some new buckets to keep all the foliage that I cut for my class of ladies that I teach in my workshops as I have so much that I run out of them and now have to use the dustbin.
I have a giant poppy out for a month now and its in full bloom, is that normal. I live outside Torbay and we have had frosts.
I would love an old fashioned wire hoe but cannot seem to get hold of one these days – if anyone has any ideas where I could buy one I would be very grateful.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…. nice socks! Cashmere too. I wonder if we could be related.
I rather doubt it, Ms Sock, I fear that the large hole on the underside of the left toe precludes such elevated kinship.
I got 3 great gardening prezzies this christmas -1, brother label printer -2, welly warmers -3, burts bees farmers friend hand salve I’m getting quite a collection of burts bees and I must say its better than any thing else I’ve tried and I have tried loads.All theese prezzies were from my lovely other half.Happy gardening to all for 2009.
i got leather gloves more staging for the greenhouse new spade and fork and with the money i had .Bought a new plastic composter from a well know store for only £15.00 saving £15.00 a new pair of sceters and a bag plus a sign to say i am in the garden.Asmall bin for the green house and a light to see what is going on when i come home from work as i go out at 6each morning and get home between 7-8 in the evening .
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Thank you Valentinstag. Incidentally, my other blog can be found here: http://web.me.com/blackpittsgarden