The list of gifts from the farm is virtually endless; a farmer’s spare time usually isn’t. The lack of lots of spare time need not be a barrier to the sharing of your farm’s gifts. Simply match the gifts to your time and talents. The following are a few suggestions.
We are all familiar with the ubiquitous host or hostess gift - the bottle of wine - but unless you’ve made it yourself I suggest you substitute with gifts right from the barn or field. My favorites are a dozen fresh eggs, a bouquet of flowers, or vegetables either singly such as one beautiful butternut squash or perfect pumpkin, or a collection of whatever vegetables are ripe at the time.
At a recent bridal shower I attached a note to a small bouquet of flowers informing the bride to be that her gift had been ordered from her gift registry and “was in the mail.”
As a wedding gift to my cousin and her new husband, I gave a basket of fresh farm vegetables as an accompaniment to a food store gift certificate. I placed a pretty potted plant in an attractive basket with an assortment of fresh vegetables.
With a small amount of added time these raw farm product gifts can become angel Cake, Deviled eggs, salad, stuffed peppers [1], a big bowl of mashed potatoes, or winter squash, pumpkin or fruit pie, and on and on. Be prepared for compliments. Many of the party's guests may have never enjoyed food that fresh. I heard one guest say to the hostess, “That’s the best angel cake I’ve ever tasted.” My friend was quick to point out that it was made from scratch with farm fresh eggs and the strawberry adornment was farm fresh as well. An early summer salad brought to a similar gathering made my foodie friend declare that this was the best salad she’d ever tasted.
Gifts in Bottles and Jars
While more time consuming, these jarred gifts are some of my favorites to make and give. Jarred gifts extend both the harvest and the gift giving “window”. What fun to give someone raspberries in January in the form of homemade jam.
Jam is my favorite jarred gift to make and give. Very good instructions for most of the popular types of jam are included with purchased pectin. I have used both regular pectin and low sugar pectin with equally good results. Its is especially important to seal well and refrigerate after opening the low sugar jams, they will develop mold much more quickly than the high sugar jams.
The following recipe is one of my favorites. It comes from the cookbook (a gift itself from my sister, Ann) The Blueberry Connection by Beatrice Ross Buszek.
Blueberry-Raspberry Jam
4 cups each blueberries and raspberries for a total of 8 cups. A bit more or less of one or the other is ok.
7 cups sugar
1 6 oz pkg liquid pectin
Follow the instructions in the package. Skim any foam, pour into sterile jars. Water bath can for storage safety.
Grape Jelly
I have made this with wild grapes but I now have two new Concord grape vines. I have enjoyed making this jelly this autumn. My grape yield was not large but I had fun making my eight four ounce jars. If your only exposure has been to grocery store grape jelly you’ll be in for a treat. With my first sampling of this batch I thought to myself “Grape jelly on steroids.” Grapes are one of a few fruits that are so naturally high in pectin there is no need to add purchased pectin. My favorite instructions come from my tattered Fanny Farmer Cookbook.
Grape Jelly
Wash and drain the grapes. Remove most of the stems. It's ok to miss a few. Make sure to include under ripe and green grapes, for these contain the most pectin. Place in a heavy bottom stock pan. Crush grapes. You may add a small amount of water. Bring to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes. Strain juice. For a clearer jelly do not squeeze the pulp for higher yield. For a bit more cloudy jelly squeeze pulp, or do what I do to get every drop, put through a hand cranked food mill. Refrigerate overnight to allow the crystals that sometimes form to settle.
For every cup of juice you will need 3/4 cups sugar. The instructions say to prewarm the sugar in the oven to avoid cooling the liquid when added. I don’t usually warm the sugar and I’ve noted no ill effects. Measure and warm sugar set aside.
Using no more than four cups of juice at one time, boil juice for four minutes. Add sugar and boil until it reaches 220°F. This will take at least five minutes, most likely more. If you don’t have a thermometer or are unsure of the accuracy of yours follow this “old fashioned” method. Take up a spoonful of juice, cool a moment, tipping the spoon wide end down, pour juice back into pot. If it pours back in one drop it is not ready. If it sheets off the spoon in two drops it's ready. I use both a thermometer and the spoon. Pour into sterile canning jars. Water bath can according to recommended instructions. All jams and jellies should be refrigerated after opening.
My other favorite jelly is pepper jelly. I simply follow the instructions with the pectin. The instructions are usually quite specific regarding the amounts of each type of pepper. I have discovered it makes no difference to the success of the jelly as to the actually mix of peppers. Simply use the total volume called for. If you like mild, medium, or hot jelly increase or decrease the ratio of hot to bell peppers. Don’t forget to use different color peppers for a very pretty jelly. This jelly is great spread on your favorite sandwich or served with meats. My favorite use is as an appetizer.
Adjust the size of this recipe to fit the number of guests you'll be serving. Place a block of cream cheese on a plate. Pour a jar of pepper jelly on top of the cream cheese. Arrange your favorite crackers and vegetables around the jelly and cheese. Add one of those cute party knives, hopefully one with a chili pepper adornment, and wait for the compliments.
Other jarred or bottled gifts are pickles, relishes, sauerkraut (a new item for me this year), and my favorite our own maple syrup.
More Gift Ideas
The list is long in the ornamental farm gifts category as well. Most of the ornamental items I’ve made have been donated to my church’s annual holiday fair. My favorite is the “bird feeder” wreath. Attach a dry or partially dry sunflower head to a wreath. This wreath can be purchased or handmade. In the interest of time I purchased small straw wreaths. I attached the seed head to the center with u shaped push pins sold in the florist section of the craft store. The seed head filled the entire center. I embellished the wreath with various dried plant materials and a natural looking fabric bow. It was quite attractive and the few I made sold well.
A very simply variation of the above can be made by simply punching a hole near the top of a somewhat dry seed head, threading wire or ribbon through the hole and placing it so that the birds may enjoy it.
A few years ago I made a rather impressive looking flower arrangement to decorate the church hall for the early autumn church fair. This would make for a fabulous hostess gift. Select a nice looking pumpkin. Cut a circle out of the top as if making a jack-o-lantern. Scoop out the seeds. Place a watertight container such as a quart sized plastic yogurt container into the pumpkin. Place flower holding green foam into the container if you feel you need it. Now add various fresh and dried flowers, such as cut corn stalks, dry sunflower heads, dry ornamental corn, gourds etc. Use picks, wire and push pins to get the items to stay in the arrangement. You can either discard the top or simply lean it against the base of the pumpkin for a rather nice look.
My other favorite non-edible farm item of late has been note cards. Using card stock, purchased envelopes and my printer I simply select some of my favorite farm photos and print them on the stock. You can add words or leave blank. For a get well card under the picture of one of our Highland Cattle I wrote, “I hope you get moooving soon.” To change the same picture to a holiday card you can write “Mooy Christmas.”
With instructions from a farm member and friend I actually painted some rather simple and cute vegetable pictures. I scanned them into my computer and printed them out on beige card stock. They made nice cards.
The Most Valuable Gift
The most valuable gift you have to give is your time and knowledge. Include recipes and instructions with any of the above gifts and inspire the receiver to try creating the items for themselves. Teach a class or simply give one-on-one instruction in gardening or jam making. Last year my sister’s request for her birthday was seedlings. That was easy enough. I grow all my seedlings for our CSA anyway. I decided to take it one step further and hand deliver and plant the seedlings. I “tilled” her compost filled raised bed with a spading fork and planted the plants with my sister watching on. The garden grew great and she and her husband really enjoyed it. This summer she told me she planted it on her own recalling my labors of the previous summer. Knowledge given.
Since this is a CSA column I will say that any of these gifts can be used as part of a CSA share if you feel you need or simply want to. Last summer I felt I needed an extra pick up item on a lean week in early summer. I let the folks choose two note cards. They were very well received. ome CSAs even offer these types of items as extras to be purchased. Other than eggs I have not explored offering “extras” but I believe it has merit from a marketing standpoint.
It’s better to give than receive. This may be even more true of gifts from the farm, for inside every farm gift is the farmer, his or her blood, sweet, tears and love. What a gift in return to hear, “That’s the best tomato, best cake, best jam, or best something I’ve ever tasted.
Happy Gift Giving!