The holiday season is upon us! If you have a gardener, herbalist, homesteader, seed saver, or other grower in your life, you’re in luck. We’ve put together a gardener gift guide filled with ideas. For each list, we’ve included a few crop ideas plus handy tools, supplies, and books.

The Beginner Gardener

Welcome a friend, neighbor, or family member to gardening crew with a few of these basic essentials. We’ve picked out a few easy crops for beginners plus some supplies that will help them succeed.

• Matt’s Wild Cherry Tomatoes
  These little tomatoes pack tons of flavor into a ferocious little package. The plants are extremely resilient and virtually invincible against common tomato diseases.
  
  
• Garden Guides by Ira Wallace
  Southern Exposure’s own gardening expert Ira Wallace gives home gardeners the regionally specific information needed to succeed in our hot, humid climate. Ira offers one guide to the Southeast and five state-specific guides.
  
  
• Green Salad Bowl Lettuce
  Help your friend grow their very first salad with easy, cut and come again Green Salad Bowl lettuce.
  
  
• CobraHead Mini ‘Steel Fingernail’
  Make weeding a bit easier with this solid tool made from USA steel. SESE and National Garden Club testers were really impressed with the tool and all it can do.
  
  
• Color Fashion Mix Sunflower
  Help them brighten their space with the easy-to-grow Color Fashion Mix Sunflower.
  
  
• Green Finger Slicing Cucumber
  Give the gift of crisp, summer cucumbers with this productive, tasty, disease resistant variety from Cornell University. 
  
  
• SESE Gift Card
  Want to help them fill out their whole garden with their favorite seeds? Grab a SESE gift card so they can fill their own cart.

The Heirloom Tomato Lover

Few crops seem to develop the same ardent following as tomatoes. If you have a heirloom tomato fan in your life try some of these:

• Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad Tomato
  Give the gift of a legacy with Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad Tomato. Seeds for these dark pink, tangy tomatoes were carried through the Underground Railroad by an unnamed black man as he crossed to freedom in Ripley, OH, from KY. Seeds were passed on to Aunt Lou, who passed them on to her great nephew, and eventually on to heirloom tomato enthusiast Gary Millwood.
  
  
• Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties by Craig LeHoullier
  Give tomato growing and selection advice from the very best. Author Craig LeHoullier introduced Cherokee Purple to SESE and the world. He has grown thousands of tomato varieties, most of them in hot and humid North Carolina, and here he shares his hard-won wisdom on how to grow great tasting tomatoes. 
  
  
• 50 Self-Seal Seed Packets
  Help your loved one neatly package their ever-growing collection of heirloom tomato seeds. These self-seal packs are easy to use and great for taking to spring seed swaps!
  
  
• Amy’s Apricot Mix Cherry Tomato
  Add a unique variety to your friend’s collection with Amy’s Apricot Mix. These colorful cherries are always a hit at our tomato tastings!
  
  
• Johnny’s Seedling Mat
  Tomato seedlings love a bit of heat! Get your friend off to a great start this spring with a seedling heat mat from Johnny’s.
  
  
• Cherokee Purple Tomato
  Gift the king of tomatoes, Cherokee Purple. Few tomatoes have gained the renown as this delicious, dusky, pre-1890 Tennessee heirloom.
  
  
• Tomato Towers
  At SESE we use DIY tomato trellises like cattle panels and the Florida weave, but if you know someone who uses tomato cages, they’d probably love to have a sturdy version from Gardener’s. 
  
  
• Wooden Garden Labels
  Help your loved one keep track of all their precious tomato varieties with these wooden garden labels. Made from uncoated New England White Birch.

The Herbalist 

Whether you’re loved one is just starting the herbal journey or has been creating tinctures for decades, these are sure to brighten their winter.

• Growing and Marketing Ginseng, Goldenseal and Other Woodland Medicinals by W. Scott Persons and Jeanine M. Davis
  Give the herbalist in your life all the information they need to grow tricky woodland medicinals with success. This updated and expanded edition gives recommended methods of growing and marketing ginseng, goldenseal, ramps, black cohosh, bethroot, bloodroot, blue cohosh, false unicorn, galax, mayapple, pinkroot, spikenard, wild ginger, wild indigo, and other native woodland medicinals.
  
  
• Resina Calendula
  Herbalists prize this bright yellow flower! Give your friend a pack so they can create homemade salves, lotions, and more this season.
  
  
• Granite Mortar and Pestle
  Herbalism is much more fun when you have beautiful tools. This beautiful, solid granite mortar and pestle from our friends at Mountain Rose Herbs is perfect for grinding herb, seeds, and roots. 
• Spilanthes
  Spilanthes is a fun plant for any herbalist to get their hands on. It’s used in medicinal practices around the world and creates a strong tingling sensation in the mouth when consumed raw.
  
  
• Mesh Strainers
  Give the gift of convenience with this all purpose stainless steel strainer, which has been constructed of the perfect mesh with the herbalist in mind. A fabulous tool to be used in the production of extracts, herbal oils, tea infusions and decoctions, and in the manufacturing of some body care products.
  
  
• Anise-Hyssop (Licorice Mint)
  Give the gift of an easy-to-grow, native perennial medicinal and culinary herb. It’s wonderful for soothing teas and attracts pollinators. This herb has a lot going for it! 
• Ashwagandha
  Help fill out your herbalist’s garden with Ashwagandha. This unassuming herb is celebrated for its immune-boosting properties and ability to enhance resilience to stress. 

The Homesteader

Have a friend that won’t stop talking about food preservation or a family member who’s constantly dreaming about buying land and getting chickens? You might have a homesteader on your list!

• The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe
  A great read for intermediate and advanced growers by an Oregon farmer and plant breeder, Carol Deppe. She focuses on 5 main subsistence foods (corn, beans, squash, potatoes, and…ducks!) Great information on growing, cooking, and storing the tastiest and most nutritious varieties.
  
  
• Magic Cushaw Winter Squash
  Give the gift of good production and nutritious food with Magic Cushaw. Seed saver and grower Julia Asherman says, “We named it Magic Cushaw because it is so good and always pulls through, resistant to most everything, and now it is the only winter squash we grow.”
  
  
• Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz
  This book is a favorite among homesteaders and here at SESE, too. It contains nearly 100 home recipes for vegetable ferments (sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles); bean ferments (miso, dosas); dairy ferments (yogurt); cheesemaking (and vegan alternatives); sourdough and other grain fermentations from Cherokee, African, Japanese, and Russian traditions; vinegars and alcohol.
  
  
• Tennessee Red Cob Dent Corn
  The seedstock for this pre-1900 was supplied by Harold Jerrell who reported that in 1995 this variety produced a good crop on only 2 in. of rain from mid-June until the first of September. It was one of the driest years on record in his growing area in Virginia, and was the only variety that produced. Tennessee Red Cob is great for polenta, cornbread, corncob pipes, and corncob jelly. 
  
  
• Corn Sheller
  Give your family member a helping hand with this hand-held aluminum sheller that makes quick work of shelling corn.
  
  
• Jacob’s Cattle (Trout) Bush Dry Beans
  Productive and filling, few crops provide as much food as dry beans. Jacob’s Cattle bush bean is perfect for small or large gardens and is excellent for soups, baking, refried beans, and chili.
  
  
• Shiitake Mushroom Spawn
  Help your homesteader grow more than just vegetables with some shiitake mushroom spawn from our friends at Sharondale Mushroom Farm.

The Seed Saver

Seed savers know the value of open-pollinated varieties. They love preserving heirlooms, genetic diversity, and bits of agricultural and culinary history. Help improve their garden with these tools, books, and crops.

• Seed To Seed: Saving Our Vegetable Heritage by Suzanne Ashworth
  A thorough and comprehensive book on seed saving for both new and experienced seed savers. Covers all major and minor vegetable crops, many herbs, and unusual or rare vegetable crops. Discusses pollination dynamics, methods of maintaining variety purity, seed cleaning methods, seed collection and storage. An essential reference for seed savers.
  
  
• Cherokee Long Ear Small Popcorn
  Seedstock for this highly ornamental heirloom came from Merlyn Niedens, combining several strains of long ear Cherokee popcorn sent by Carl Barnes of Turpin, OK. Carl has helped save many of the Cherokee corns that came west over the Trail of Tears. The small kernels make surprisingly large pops with excellent flavor!
  
  
• The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving 
  Seed Savers Exchange partnered with the Organic Seed Alliance to publish this beautifully illustrated volume written both for home gardeners and farmers. An excellent complement to Seed to Seed, focusing on more of the main vegetable and herb families, and including new seedsaving research. Guidelines that break down numbers and methods for the home garden, commercial seed crops, and variety preservation are especially valuable.
  
  
• Utopian Ultracross Collard
  This unique new seed is part of the Heirloom Collard Project which is working to preserve collard stories and seeds as an important part of American food culture. This new “ultracross” collard was developed as part of a nationwide collard trial. Buying these seeds means your seed saver will have the option to join our Community Seed Selection (CSS) project. If desired, they will receive guidance and education for the process of selective seed saving. 
  
  
• 50 Self-Seal Seed Packets
  Keep your seed saver organized with these easy-to-use packs. They are  great for taking to spring seed swaps!
  
  
• Charlottesville Old Breadseed Poppy
  This old variety was kept alive by Seed Savers Exchange members Christina Wenger and Patrick Holland. It’s easy to save seed from and its crimson blooms with purple centers are sure to be a hit!
  
  
• Popcorn Sheller
  Popcorn is one of our favorite crops for beginner seed savers. Shelling it can be a hassle. Give your seed saver a little help with this hand-held sheller perfect for popcorn and other small-eared varieties.
  
  
• Aunt Bea’s Pole Snap Bean
  Each season we lose more heirloom pole bean varieties. They’re not practical for industrial agriculture, so despite their amazing flavor, they’re being left by the wayside. Help your friend preserve some history with a pole bean like Aunt Bea’s, which was stewarded by sisters Beatrice and Bernice Heuser.

 

Whether you’re growing fresh herbs, an enormous self sufficiency garden, or cut flowers for bouquets, good healthy soil is the base of production. While we can sometimes buy in fertility and organic matter and add it to our beds, this is time-consuming and expensive. Green manures help us produce nutrients and organic matter on the property.

What is Green Manure?

Despite the name, there’s no actual manure or animal poop in green manure. Instead, green manure comprises fast-growing plants. Often growers will choose a mix of annual crops for green manure.

It’s not uncommon to see the phrases cover crop and green manure used interchangeably. Any crop grown to cover the soil, rather than harvest, is called a cover crop. A green manure is a type of cover crop that’s incorporated into the soil while the crop is still green and often just beginning to flower.

Some cover crops are left on the field to reach full maturity. While these have plenty of benefits, they don’t add as much nitrogen to the soil. Green manures, particularly nitrogen-fixing legumes, add nitrogen to the soil that future crops can use.

Hairy vetch adds approximately 110 pounds per acre of nitrogen when grown and incorporated as a green manure.

The benefits of green manures don’t end with nitrogen. Here are some other great reasons to grow them:

Why Should I Plant Green Manures?

• Suppresses persistent weeds.

• Improves soil microbial activity and provides habitat for beneficial insects.

• Conserves soil and water by insulating the soil and reducing erosion.

• Adds organic matter and improves soil structure.

• Help bust hard pans and bring minerals to the surface.

• Improves soil aeration and water retention, allowing crops to grow stronger root systems.

• Can help break disease cycles in the soil.

How and When Do I Plant Green Manures in My Garden?

In some areas, you can seed green manures year round. Sometimes growers plant green manures in the fall and winter to give the beds a rest and protect the soil while they’re not in use. Other times, growers will sow green manure as part of their rotation in the summer or to give a bed a quick boost before planting a fall crop.

Most green manures will need about 8 weeks to grow (maybe longer in the winter) and 6 weeks to decompose before a bed is ready to replant.

Planting green manure crops is simple! Usually, your green manure crop should come with a specific set of sowing instructions, but there are some basic guidelines that will work for most.

You need to start with bare soil. Then you can broadcast your crop. Rake the seeds into the soil a bit, to keep them moist and help protect them from birds.

If you’re planting in fall and winter, it may rain enough for your seeds to germinate in thrive. In the summer months, you will probably need to set up irrigation or drag out the sprinkler.

In the deep summer in the Southeast, germinating any crop can be a major challenge. Starting cool season green manures in late summer and early fall can be especially tricky.

Laying cardboard over a bed before planting can help hold in moisture and shade the soil until you’re ready to plant. You can also use shade cloth over your green manure if you’re having germination issues.

Our Favorite Green Manure Crops

The green manure crop you choose for your garden will depend on your soil and needs. You will also need to choose a crop that’s suitable for the season. You can think about green manure crops as being warm season or cool season.

Any nitrogen-fixing crop is marked with a *.

Warm Season Green Manure Crops

These crops are great for planting in spring or summer to help build soil in empty beds throughout the season.

• Buckwheat

• Sunflower

• Mustard

• Lupin*

• Sunn Hemp*

• Cowpea

• Millet

Buckwheat and Sunn Hemp are quick-growing options.

Cold Season Green Manure Crops

These green manures are suitable for fall or winter planting. They can help add fertility and protect the soil over the winter.

• Austrian Winter Peas*

• Winter Wheat

• Rye

• White Clover*

• Oats

• Hairy Vetch*

• Crimson Clover*

• Red Clover*

• Daikon Radish

Daikon radishes are a top choice for breaking up compacted soil. Typically, we recommend white clover for beds that you plant to keep in cover crop for at least a year, as part of a larger rotation. It’s also a good choice for pathways.

How to Incorporate Green Manure Crops into the Soil

After 8 weeks or more, your green manure crop should have put on good growth and ideally be almost ready to flower or just starting to flower. At this stage, your green manure should be full of nutrients that you can return to the soil.

Don’t let your green manure crop mature and go to seed. The seeds can take up to 90% of the plant’s nitrogen.

The nitrogen is used to make the protein in seeds. When the nitrogen is used to make seeds, it becomes unavailable for your next crop.

The most common way to deal with green manure crops is rototill the crop into the bed whether with a tractor or small rototiller. Depending on the crop, you’ll probably need to mow it first, either with a tractor or push mower. For tiny beds, mow or cut your crop, then dig it into the soil with a shovel or garden fork.

Of course, many growers are going to no-till practices. If you don’t want to till in your green manure, you can simply mow it and leave it to break down on the surface of the soil. It will double as mulch, and you can transplant directly into it.

If you’re in a hurry to plant, covering your mulched material with tarps or plastic can help speed up the decomposition process. It holds the moisture into the plant material and soil and earth worms and other insects will move about beneath the tarp, helping to break down the green manure.

This fall has been an unusual season in an already unusual year for many gardeners across the southeast. We were fortunate enough to be outside the path of hurricane Helene, but other seed growers and farmers were not so lucky. Aside from that major catastrophe, average annual temperatures have increased across the region and there’s been significant drought, storms, or flooding in certain areas. Many growers are now hoping season extension can provide some relief during this season and allow for production during the fall, winter, or early spring.

Season Extension Guides & Resources

Season extension can be a great way to overwinter biennial seed crops, produce more crops for market, or just grow a bit more food for your family. Here are a few of our favorite resources to help you make it happen:

University of Maryland Extension High Tunnel Best Management Practices by Neith Little

UMD has put together some great basic information for managing a greenhouse or hoop houses of any size. Learn more about pest management, soil care, crop selection, temperature management and more.

Read High Tunnel Best Management Practices here.

Caterpillar Tunnel: An Inexpensive Variation on the Hoophouse Theme by Growing for Market.

A quick guide to setting up an inexpensive caterpillar tunnel, which is a great option where purchasing a hoop house isn’t possible.

Read the Caterpillar Tunnel guide here.

Fine Gardening Easy-to-Build Cold Frame by Rob Wotzak

Working with a small space? This article offers comprehensive, easy to follow instructions to build your own cold frame. “This plan doesn’t require a lot of tools, a contractor’s license, or 500 trips to the hardware store.”

Read Easy-to-Build Cold Frame here.

How to Grow Winter Hoop House Crops – Mother Earth News Magazine Article by Pam Dawling

Our neighbor over at Twin Oaks Community, Pam Dawling, wrote this helpful guide. She was their garden manager for several years, is the author of Sustainable Market Farming, and runs a blog under the same name (Sustainable Market Farming) full of helpful, well-researched articles.

Read How to Grow Winter Hoop House Crops here.

Year-Round Hoophouse, The: Polytunnels for All Seasons and All Climates by Pam Dawling

Dive deeper with Pam Dawling’s book on hoop houses. This is a thorough, clear and easy-to-follow guide for designing and building a hoophouse and making a success of growing abundant, delicious fresh produce all year round, in any climate, for market or just your family.

Purchase Year-Round Hoophouse here.

Michigan State University Extension Common Diseases in Organic Hoophouse Greens by Colin Thompson

Plant diseases can occur throughout the year, not just in summer. Sensitive greens can be especially challenging and prone to fungal diseases in low-airflow winter hoop houses. This article offers helpful tips for mitigating that risk.

Read Common Diseases in Organic Hoophouse Greens here.

Four Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman

Eliot Coleman’s Four Season Harvest is renowned in the Northeast. This helpful guide has information needed to grow year-round even through the cold winters he experiences in Maine. This is a great guide for those growers in mountainous areas that deal with severe winters.

Purchase Four Season Harvest here.

SESE Blog 10 Season Extension Techniques by Jordan Charbonneau

New to season extension? Try one of these simple techniques to keep growing through all conditions from the SESE blog.

Read 10 Season Extension Techniques here.

University of Kentucky Extension Season Extension Tools & Techniques

Get the basics on season extension from floating row cover to high tunnels plus tips on economic considerations, irrigation, cultivar selection and more.

Read Season Extension Tools & Techniques here.

NCAT ATTRA Crop Selection and Planting Schedules for Winter High Tunnel Production by Chris Lent

Find crops and a planting schedule that works for your area with this helpful guide from NCAT. It also includes links to other resources on hoophouse production.

Read Crop Selection and Planting Schedules for Winter High Tunnel Production here.

Beginner Tips for Using Season Extension

• Be sure to account for dwindling daylight in your days to harvest, not just cold temperatures.

• Watch for signs of fungal diseases and remove affected material immediately.

• Select varieties and crops bred for cold hardiness and disease resistance.

• Vent your season extension whenever it’s warm enough to do so.

• Double up on temperature protection by using frost cover or low tunnels within a hoop house.

• Use your season extension to help harden off seedlings in the spring.