Another year of sowing and mowing and growing and brewing and digging and swigging is nearly over and the ‘to do’ list has mostly been done, ignored or forgotten. However, there is one important task reaching red warning status: the Christmas gift shopping.
But fear not, help is at hand in the form of our annual round up of finest treats money can by, carefully suited to appeal to the most important diggers and swiggers on you Christmas list. Fill your basket, crack open a drink for yourself and have a very merry Christmas – you deserve it.
Serravinci Italian Liqueur Selection
Price: £11.99
Sweet-toothed Italians are liqueur-making masters and this trio of tasty delights is as good as liqueurs get. Enjoy hazelnutty ‘nocciolino’, lemony ‘limoncello’ and a stunning pistachio cream ‘pistacchino’ in 100ml bottles, all packed together at a bargain price.
Available from: www.drinksupermarket.com
Fiskars P100 Quantum Bypass Secateurs
Price: £38.95
Prune it like Wong with this top-notch set of secateurs. Equipped with a comfy, non-slip handles and razor sharp blades, it’ll make mincemeat of brambly allotments, and is the perfect tool for cathartically de-branching threadbare, post-festivity Christmas trees.
Available from: www.tooled-up.com
Botanist Islay Dry Gin
Price: £33.83
We’ve drunk a lot of gin this year (purely for research, you understand) and the Botanist happens to be one of our favorites. The embossed typography on the bottle is a thing of beauty and the gin inside so fragrant, you could dab it on your neck and wear it as perfume.
Available from: www.masterofmalt.com
Sneeboer Transplanting Trowel with Bottle Opener
Price: £32.95
From the Dutch masters of garden tools comes this ace transplanting trowel. It’s a heart-shaped, forged steel wonder, with the added bonus of a bottle opener notched into one edge. The ultimate implement for thirsty gardeners.
Available from: www.harrodhorticultural.com
Żubrówka Bison Grass Vodka with Limited Edition Sleeve
Price: £20
Forget the worm in the tequila – go for the bison grass in the vodka instead. Distilled in Poland and flavoured with rare bison grass, Żubrówka is one of the finest vodkas around. Great as a shot on its own or mixed with apple juice. Grass included.
Available from: Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s
Balconera self watering balcony planter
Price: £29.99
We tried out a self watering pot from Lechuza earlier this year and were mightily impressed with its good looks and practicality, perfectly suited to our lazy gardening preferences. If you’ve got friends too busy enjoying summer refreshments to remember to water their plants give them one of these to help keep their flowers blooming.
Available from: www.lechuza.co.uk
Sweet Potato Spirits
Price: From £15.95
Distilled from sweet potatoes plucked from the furrowed fields of North Carolina. This heady range of botanically bombarded, spud-based boozes will bring rosy-cheeked cheer to all that sup from their quirky, cartoon-like bottles.
Available from: www.thesweetpotatospiritcompany.com
Warmwear battery heated socks
Price: £29.99
For the cosiest toes this winter, pull your socks up, strap on your battery pack, and let the temperature rise. With maximum warmth and comfort, digging the frosty parsnips will seem much less a chore.
Available from: www.primrose.co.uk
Mulled Wine Tea Light Set with 2 Glasses
Price: £32.95
Serve hot spicy booze in style with this smart looking mulled wine decanter. Pour in the gluwhein, light the candle and away you go. Looks like something you’d find in Walter White’s Winnebago – and that can only be a good thing.
Available from: www.harrodhorticultural.com
Kabloom seed bombs
Price: From £3.50
Wreak wild-flower havoc with these grow-your-own grenades. Simply lob the cardboard bomb onto your bare ground target and wait for the seed and compost mix to activate. With collections including flowers specially selected for bees and butterflies it’s gift to nature as well.
Available from: www.notonthehighstreet.com/kabloom
Hozelock AquaDeco Gift Pack (Pack of 3)
Price: £11.90
Why should Christmas trees bag all the baubles? Treat your houseplant-loving pal (or just treat your houseplants) to one of these psychedelic, hand-blown watering globes. Just fill with water, stick them in a composted container and – by the magical powers of capillary action – they will slowly hydrate your plant for up to two weeks.
Available from: www.hozelock.com
Godminster Bloody Good Mary Set
Price: £32
Give the gift of hangover cures with this ruddy red booze making kit. Decked out with a bottle of horseradish vodka and 5 bottles of spicy tomato juice, we’d hope this would last you well into the New Year.
Available from: www.godminster.com
The Half-Hour Allotment, by Lia Leendertz
Price: £16.99
Ace allotmenteer Lia Leendertz has teamed up with the RHS to produce a book worthy of any allotment shed. Rammed with all year round tips and growing advice it’ll help you plot a course to growing perfection in next to no time.
Available from: All good bookshops and, of course, Amazon
Drink in Tube cognac gift pack
Price: £18.99
Three different premium Cognacs in generous 50ml tubes, and full tasting instructions, will soon turn your gleeful recipient into a cognac connoisseur. And if this kind of booze education sounds like fun, there are plenty more wines and spirits to master.
Available from: www.drinksintube.co.uk
Victorian Cucumber Straightener
Price: £29
Grow the most enviable cucumbers with this Victorian glass device designer to keep its inhabitant straight and warm for maximum length and girth. Originally designed by steam railway legend George Stephenson it’s a design classic that’s long overdue a revival.
Available from: www.henandhammock.co.uk
Brew it Yourself by Two Thirsty Gardeners
Price: £14.99
It’s the best booze-making book money can buy, with recipes ranging from beers and ciders to cocktails and liqueurs. We’ve even thrown in a few festive tipples including a Scandinavian mulled ‘glögg’. But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what Amazon reviewer Fuzzy had to say: “Brilliant book with lots of added humour”. So there.
Available from: All good book shops and Amazon
Thanks to all the suppliers featured for sending us their products to review and photograph
