(I meant to post this on Black Friday, but life got away from me. Then I thought perhaps Cyber Monday, but no luck there, either. So… Green Tuesday it is.)

Many, many years ago, I started keeping an Amazon Wish List for myself. It really served more like a bookmark file of books that I wanted to read. (Because, let’s face it, there are a lot of books that I want to read.) It is a very handy way of tracking books desired instead of some stack of Post-It notes on my desk somewhere. Eventually, others wanted to see my list to know what gifts to buy me.

Recently, however, I’ve been alerted to a interesting phenomenon. I have spoken with multiple individuals who stalk my wish list to find out what books to read for themselves. What?!?!? I now feel a sort of pressure to curate a decent list of titles, which is tough these days since most of my time is admittedly spent shopping for fun homeschool stuff for the kids. The other problem with shopping from my wish list is that the best items have already been purchased. Sometimes a book might only be on my list for a day or two before I purposely find room in my budget or sell something on eBay or scrape change out of the floorboard of my car to pay for it. (Books are more important than food in the budget in this household, I’m afraid.)

So, while you are welcome to peruse my gift list for your personal shopping enjoyment, I thought I would make some gift recommendations for you. Or… if you know a person like me (into sustainable living, geekiness, and generally being awesome), you will now have some handy shopping tips for the Christmas season!

(Note on Christmas: I am still struggling with the whole consumerist nature of the holiday. But, if you must give gifts, personal, meaningful ones are way better than a generic set of ties or something. Plus, I love love love love gift giving. If you’re thinking back to the last few years, trying to think what in the heck I got you for Christmas… I’m sorry for that, too. I’ve not had the emotional energy for gift giving, but this year, it may be back! We’ll see anyway…)

Now, on to the list:

• The Seasons on Henry’s Farm by Terra Brockman I would say this is pretty definitively the best book that I read this year. The sheer volume of information in this book is amazing. (Recipes, too!) But that isn’t even what the book is about. It’s a love letter to a lifestyle of hard work and dedication and passion (about vegetables!) that most of us can’t even begin to relate to. There’s a chapter for every week of the year on the farm, and each is beautiful.The crazy part is that it never slows down. You’ll be riveted the entire time. I promise.
• The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball Oh, this book. I loved it on every level. It’s a tale of writer-girl-falls-in-love-with-mad-genius-farmer-boy. It also gives a realistic and very gritty portrayal of the hard work of farm life. (Note for my more precautious readers: said farmer and writer do live together before tying the knot, so you may want to avoid this book if you find that offensive.)
• Goat Song by Brad Kessler If you’ve ever fallen head-over-heels in love with a hobby for reasons that make no sense to anyone around you (or even yourself sometimes), you’ll enjoy this book. (Bonus enjoyment if you have an interest in goats.) He’s also an amazingly talented writer. He makes goats seem positively literary. See also The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden. It’s funny to anyone who has ever crunched the numbers on how much money they’re “saving” by growing their own food.

• Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness by Lisa Hamilton. This book is perhaps deeper reading than most people might enjoy, but I loved it. Ms. Hamilton profiles a handful of farmers who are doing things radically different from the status quo. I enjoyed it because she wasn’t profiling your typical organic market veggie grower. She profiles an organic dairyman, and a family raising organic seed among others. She really gets into how we ended up where we are today and why it is so challenging for farmers to make the transition to sustainable methods when the entire system is designed to work against them.

• Bringing It to the Table: On Farming and Food by Wendell Berry. Because every good list should have Wendell Berry on it. My next husband will be a young, dashingly handsome version of Mr. Berry.
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver If you still haven’t read this book, you really should. Probably the single best book introducing you to why we go about food the entirely wrong way in the U.S.

• The Grand Central Baking Book. I have (finally) gotten out of the bad habit of buying recipe books never to open them again. This one is worth the investment if you are not terribly confident in your baking skills. It has lots of detailed pictures and thorough instructions. My favorite part is that she details how they manage to prepare goods in bulk for a bakery. You end up learning a lot about how to store batters and finished products. The cinnamon roll recipe really is phenomenal. (As are the belgian waffles, even if you end up having a train wreck with the waffle machine and eating them as pancakes instead.)

Now, for a few non-book items:

• Seed Savers Exchange Membership. If you have a gardener in your life and don’t know what in the heck to get them, this is a great choice. SSE works to save heirloom seed varieties and promote awareness of a why we need genetic diversity in our food. Besides supporting a great cause, you get various mailings throughout the year and access to the seeds of other members as well.
• Countryside Magazine subscription. My favorite magazine… similar to Mother Earth News but packed with an insane amount of information. Probably too much for someone just starting out in gardening, but folks really into sustainable living would love it.
• Back to the Roots Mushroom Kit For the hard-core gardener in your life, a mushroom kit is just the thing. Yes, it’s cheaper to buy mushrooms at the grocery store. Yes, it’s probably also cheaper in the long run to research mushroom production, order spore in bulk, drill logs in your backyard, and wait ten years for them to mature. This is instant gratification mushroom growing! Home grown mushrooms for the microwave generation! I’ve priced a lot of kits, too, and this one from Amazon is the most affordable and produces oyster mushrooms, which I usually can’t even buy locally. (I’ll be posting a blog post soon with pictures of my own mushroom kit growing experience!)
• Worm Composting Kit. Since sustainable folks are generally into doing things themselves, a worm composting do-it-yourself kit would make a very satisfying gift. Worm composting is a fun and easy project. All you would have to include is two plastic lidded tubs and a gift certificate to wherever you buy bait locally for the worms. Print some instructions (which can be found easily by Googling “How to build a worm compost bin”) to include with your gift or throw in the book Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System.
• Sprouting Kit. If your favorite green person isn’t growing sprouts, they should be. Easy, cheap, nutritious and oddly satisfying to have a jar on the counter all the time. All you need to do is replace the metal lid of a mason jar with some window screen cut to fit. Add a bag of sprout seeds and you’ve created a thoughtful and cool gift for next-to-nothing. (You can buy kits, too, but why bother when it’s so easy? If I really loved you, I’d find my old blog post about it and repost, but I’m too lazy today!) This is what I’ll be giving my brother for Christmas this year, which he will toss in the back of his Jeep and never use again. Because I’m a sister. And that’s what sisters do.
• Local Food Gifts. Seriously, few things make me happier than local food. Local honey, local maple syrup, local organic meats, even some farmer’s markets offer gift certificates. This would make any hippie in your life very, very happy! You might start your search at www.localharvest.org if you don’t already have anything in mind. (If you’re in Kentucky, drop me a line, I can recommend lots of great local farmers and places to buy from!)

Okay… there’s my shopping list for you. If you know someone like me, you now know what to buy them for Christmas, because I own and love all of these things. If you are like me, you now have lots of goodies to add to your own wish list! If you have a book that I haven’t read but should, please feel free to recommend!

(Disclosure: Some of these links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I might earn a few cents if you buy the book after clicking the link.)