is the delight of creating gifts from the garden. Unique, thoughtful, easy, inexpensive and inspirational. Gifts from the garden can be as simple as a set of pressed flower note cards, an elegant bottle of herb vinegar or a herbal home spa gift basket.
Here are some recipes to get started...
Herb Vinegar
Ratio:
1 cup firmly packed fresh cut herbs
2 cups white wine or champagne vinegar
Gently wash herbs, remove any discolored or damaged leaves. Allow to air dry. Place in a sterilized glass jar, pour vinegar over them. Gently crush herbs with a wooden spoon to release flavorful essential oils into the vinegar. Cover the jar with plastic wrap and screw on lid. Let the mix stand in a sunny window for 10 days, then taste. Add more herbs if a stronger flavor is desired or add more vinegar to tone it down if it is too strong. Let blend for a few more weeks. When ready: strain out old herbs and pour into a decorative bottle and add fresh sprigs of herbs to the bottle, seal and label.
Peppermint Foot Soak
Peppermint is stimulating and helps with circulation. The sea salt softens the water and the soda neutralizes the PH.
1 cup sea salt, coarse grind
½ cup Baking Soda
½ cup dried peppermint crushed
2 drops of peppermint essential oil if desired.
Combine ingredients well. For a finer blend, ingredients can be ground together in a coffee grinder. Package in a glass jar. Top with a dried whole peppermint leaf in the jar for added beauty. Add directions for use.
To use: place mix in a large pan or roomy dish tub of warm water. Soak feet for a minimum of 15 minutes to capture the full benefits.
Rose Petal Potpourri
From summer harvests use dried rose petals, fragrant herb leaves and flower blossoms. All ingredients must be absolutely dry before mixing. Blend together for color and texture and add drops of fragrant oil. Seal the mix in a glass jar for a few weeks to allow the fragrance to permeate the mix. Gently stir the ingredients. Place in fabric organza bags to tie on the top of gift packages.
Sachets
Use fabric bags or handmade paper envelopes to fill with fragrant dried herbs. Package as gifts for car fresheners, linen, drawer sachets or tucked into gift baskets with other handmade goodies.
