QUICK GIFTS FROM THE GARDEN

Give homegrown posies of red, white and green flowers to friends and work colleagues on Christmas Eve, because everyone appreciates free flowers to brighten up their festive dinner table! Buy cut flowers if need be and simply bulk out with fresh foliage from your backyard. Make strawberry jam. Hull and slice 1kg ripe strawberries, place in a bowl and splash with 2 tablespoons raspberry vodka or cassis. Set aside until the berries release their juices, then combine in a pot with 1kg pectin-enriched jam-setting sugar. Over a low heat, stir until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat and boil hard for 5 minutes. Pour into sterilised jars and seal. Pot up a portable herb garden for friends to take away on their summer holidays. Tuck seedlings of parsley, dill, coriander, chervil, chives, oregano and basil into decorative baskets filled with potting mix. Infuse salt with crushed, dried herbs; vodka with vanilla pods or fresh raspberries; olive oil with chillies and garlic; and vinegars with sprigs of tarragon and rosemary. Press flowers to decorate homemade Christmas cards and wrapping paper, and tie your parcels with strips of native flax instead of tape. Save the cardboard tubes from toilet rolls and make your own Christmas crackers. Slip packets of salad seeds inside them, such as cos and buttercrunch lettuce, rocket, coriander, radishes, microgreens and baby carrots.