Gifts of the Garden
Herbs. This is the ultimate cheap, do-it-yourself, slow food, organic, buy-local gift. Here’s what you do. Go to the garden center and pick up one six-pack each of basil, parsley, cilantro and dill. Substitute mint or chives if you need to. Buy six clay flowerpots and a small bag of potting soil. Go home and assemble six little herb gardens, and give them as much light as you possibly can until the big day. You’ll have six gifts for around $25 — and everybody will love them.
Books. I don’t care how many books a gardener has. We always want more. Here are two of the hottest garden books of the year — and they’re both new releases, so you don’t have to go scurrying around checking your beloved’s bookshelves before you buy them. John Greenlee’s The American Meadow Garden (Timber Press, $35) is an exquisitely beautiful book on non-lawns. Greenlee is the owner of Greenlee Nursery in Chino, Calif., and he’s known all over the country as an expert in meadows. Marin photographer Saxon Holt took the photographs, and they’re gorgeous. It’s a winner.
But if natural, breezy, rumpled meadows aren’t your gardener’s thing, then Anna Pavord’s new book Bulb (Mitchell Beazley, $40) will be. At 544 pages, this is bound to inspire a dangerous and expensive level of bulb lust. Good luck with that. And happy holidays, y’all.
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Today
Winter Classic Table Tennis Tournament
sports / 11:30 a.m. Arcata Community Center, 321 Community Parkway. Compete in 12 and under, beginners, intermediate, advanced or seniors groupings. Prizes for winners. $10/$5 kids 12 and under. 601-5447.
Audubon Society Field Trip
outdoors / 9 a.m. Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 1020 Ranch Road, Loleta. Meet at Refuge Visitor Center off Hookton Road. Leisurely, two- to three-hour trip intended for people wanting to learn birds of Humboldt Bay area. 822-3613.
Open Celtic Music Session
music / 3 p.m. Cafe Veritas/Mosgo's, 180 Westwood Center, Arcata. Informal monthly gathering of musicians playing Irish and other Celtic music. Hosted by Seabury Gould. seaburygould.com. 845-8167.
Nonviolence Action Camp
etc. / 10 a.m. Chinmaya Mission near Piercy. Weekend-long direct action orientation features workshops, role playing, seminars, ceremonies and field trips. Bring food, bedding, warm clothes, signs, banners, bikes, drums, acoustic instruments. Pre-register. saverichardsongrove.org. 932-5898.
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ONE Comments
Comment / By botias / Dec. 4, 2009, 3:44 p.m.
I wholeheartedly endorse your selections. (Are we gardeners so alike?) But who can resist those watering cans. I finally selected an emerald green one for myself, but of course I wanted one of each color so you really can’t lose. Goes to scope out the purple hoses I’ve been needing a new hose. And PURPLE! <3<3<3 But I’d best not buy one just in case.