Etsy Gifts for Gardeners

Seed Bombs $7 at Visualingual
Practice random acts of gardening with these seed bombs! Five seed bombs  are packed into each pouch, ready for gift-giving.

The bird-, bee- and butterfly-friendly wildflower mixture includes  Upland White Aster, Prairie Aster, Cornflower, Siberian Wallflower,  Shasta Daisy, Lance-Leaf Coreopsis, Plains Coreopsis, Sulphur Cosmos,  Wild Cosmos, Sweet William, Purple Coneflower, California Poppy,  Perennial Gaillardia, Indian Blanket, Baby's Breath, Wild Annual  Sunflower, Dwarf Sunflower, Dame's Rocket, Candytuft, Blue Flax, Scarlet  Flax, Perennial Lupine, Russell Lupine, Baby Blue Eyes, Evening  Primrose, Red Poppy, Mexican Hat, Prairie Coneflower, Black-Eyed Susan,  Gloriosa Daisy, and Sweet Coneflower. These wildflowers were chosen  because they're native to the Midwest, where we live, but many are  actually native to much of North America.

The muslin bags were made in the USA and screenprinted by hand by us  with the West Coast Seed Bombs design. Inside each pouch is the full  list of the seeds included. When you've used up the seed bombs, reuse  the pouch or frame it!

Stoneware "Scare Cat" - $16 at JolieFare Medival
Gardeners in France have been hanging stoneware scare cats in their  fruit trees and berry bushes for centuries, as far back as the reign of  Louis IX, the Sun King.  The dark shadowy outline of a cat's head hiding  among the branches, with its glittering, glowing eyes, will make birds  do an immediate u-turn in mid-air and seek their fruit treats elsewhere.   The scare cat will slowly turn and move as the breeze blows through  the branches, which makes the eyes glow and flash, very much like a real  stalking cat on the prowl.

Scare cats are especially effective for those early weeks when your  fruits are just beginning to grow and are still tiny enough that the  birds can decimate your entire cherry, peach, apple or berry yield in a  very short time.  Later in the season, of course, after you've picked  the fruits you want, you can take the scare cat down and let the birds  enjoy the rest of the harvest.

A scare cat in your garden will keep the bunnies and other munchers away  from your lettuce and other veggies.  You can make a quick and easy  'stake' by stretching out a wire coat hanger, with the hook at the top.   Use pliers to bend the hook upwards and hang your scare cat from it.   Be sure to position your scare cat so that it looks like its peering out  from among the greenery.

A scare cat in a sunny window is also very effective for saving the  lives of birds that keep crashing into the glass.  I have one window in  my house where that was happening all the time--apparently something  about the way the sun hit the window, the birds just couldn't see that  glass barrier.  My scare cat has solved that problem and no more birds  have died crashing against the window.

Scare cats are made of high-temp kiln fired ironstone, with amber marble eyes.  Each scare cat comes with a long length of strong  invisible fishing line to hang it in your trees, bushes or window.  Each scare cat is made by hand, no molds are used, so each one will be a  little different.

Available either in natural red brick ironstone, or finished in a matte black.