giving tips
(Image credit: Devonyu)
As gardeners, we’re lucky people indeed. We spend time in nature, growing healthy fruits and vegetables for our families or planting colorful annuals that brighten entire neighborhoods. Are you wondering how to give back?
For most of us, gardening is limited during the winter months, but there are still many ways to help others. Read on for tips and ideas for holiday garden giving.
Holiday Garden Giving: Holiday Donations
- Arrange a community clean-up, then spend the day pulling weeds and hauling away trash. A community event instills pride and encourages people to spruce up their yards.
- Next time you visit your local drive-through coffee stand, surprise the folks in the car behind you by paying for a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.
- Volunteer your time at a local animal shelter. Shelters usually need people to pet, hug, walk, and play with the animals.
- It will soon be time to start seeds indoors. Plant a few extra seeds this year, then give the seedlings to new gardeners this spring. Patio tomatoes in containers are great gifts for apartment dwellers.
- If you enjoy being outdoors, offer to shovel a sidewalk or driveway for an elderly neighbor.
- Tuck a packet of vegetable or flower seeds in Christmas cards and send them to your gardening friends. If you collect seeds from your garden, put a few in homemade envelopes. Be sure to label the envelopes clearly and include planting information.
Ways to Help Others: Holiday Donations and Holiday Charity Ideas
- Ask a local garden center to help with a Christmas poinsettia fundraiser for a local community garden, school garden project, or garden club. Many garden centers have programs in place.
- Holiday donations could include gifting a blooming plant such as viburnum, hydrangea, or rhododendron to a local nursing facility or senior care home. Evergreen trees and shrubs are also appreciated and look pretty year-round.
- Ask your local school district if they have a school garden program. Volunteer to help with planning, planting, seeds, or cash for the coming gardening season.
- Next time you visit the supermarket, buy a bag of produce. Drop it off with an elderly neighbor, senior meal center, or soup kitchen.
Looking for more ways to give back? Join us this holiday season in supporting two amazing charities working to put food on the tables of those in need, and as a thank you for donating, you’ll receive our latest eBook, Bring Your Garden Indoors: 13 DIY Projects for the Fall and Winter. Click here to learn more.