Canadian Gift Guide

It might be all icky snowy out there, and your produce might have offending stickers proclaiming exotically warm origins like Mexico or Morocco, but that’s not say things are totally dire when it comes to obtaining fresh eats locally. In fact, you can actually save a few bucks while you’re at it when you grow your own goodies – right inside your very own kitchen, right in the dead of winter.

Seracon is a Canadian company that takes pride in all natural, eco-friendly gift ideas including hand-poured vegetable wax candles, hand-crafted soaps, and today’s fantastically green gift suggestion – heirloom planting kits, designed for your window to sprout delicious herbs and veggies year-round.

The cool thing about the company is that their entire product line is actually available online, although I’ve spotted various items in stores around my city, and I suspect you’d be able to find them as well. The planter kits are $20 a pop and include an adorable classic silver basin, soil cakes, and organic seeds to get your growing operation up and running. With easy-to-follow instructions and the ability to control exactly how you’re planting your herbs, it’s easy to grow a green thumb in no time at all.

Best of all, the diversity of the kits means you can find something suited for the seasoned chef – like one of the edible flower sets – or something that would be more useful for the everyday kitchen adventurer – such as the organic basils. The sets are ready-to-go as gifts as well, thanks to their slick packaging and impressive design.

Has someone recently gone on the trip of a lifetime or moved from a foreign country? Consider snagging one of the company’s many international collections with herbs native to Thailand or spicy herbs used in Tex Mex cooking. I love the planter sets because they’re so affordable, practical, and hit on gardening and cooking as two major hobby groups. Beyond that, the ethical message behind organic foods, buying (or growing) local, and knowing the source of your food is super inspiring, even for the most granola of your pals.

If you want to ramp things up a bit, Seracon offers tons of other gardening products for indoor and outdoor use. If you want to really splurge on a phenomenonal housewarming gift, consider the $160 friendship garden sets which include 40 assorted flowers and / or herbs to make a garden flourish.

Or you can go ultra affordable with the “Greetings that Grow” collection of $10 terracotta planters with seeds designed to match the mood of each planter – like zesty citrus bergamot for a ‘get well soon’ message or soothing lavender for a birthday wish.

I’m giving Seracon my stamp of approval for bringing a bit of life to gift giving during the dreary winter months. Get going to their website and get your loved ones growing!