Here are a couple Mother's Day Gift ideas for those who have a mom that likes gardening or cooking.  These two gift ideas are cheap, easy to put together and will produce fruit or herbs for years to come.

Plus, if you're like me you can disguise your procrastination by letting your mom "pick" which gift she wants and then "spending quality time" making it together.  All kidding aside, your mom will love spending time with you and will think of you every time she picks from it.

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Strawberry Hanging Baskets

It's pretty common to get mom hanging baskets with flowers, but what about Strawberries?

In my opinion these are just as decorative. They will flower all summer long and the deep red fruit will hang down outside of the basket which looks great as well.

How to put them together:

Get some coco liner hanging baskets.  They will hold the moisture better.  Fill them with potting soil and maybe mix in a little well balanced fertilizer such as Plant Tone. Find an ever-bearing variety of Strawberries (this just means that they will produce flowers and fruit all season long).  Plant the young strawberry plants in the hanging basket, water and then hang in the sunniest spot around the house.

At the end of Fall, take the basket, dig a hole, and put the whole thing in the ground so its level with the soil line.  Cover them with heaps of straw and in the spring you can dig them out, clean them up, and they will come back and produce even more fruit the next year.

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Pallet Herb Garden

This is so simple and easy. This vertical herb garden can lean up against the house and allows for many different herbs to be grown in a very small space.

How to make it:

The hardest part will be finding a pallet to use.  Try smaller stores that are usually willing to sell you one cheaply (say $2.00).  Make sure the wood is untreated.  The pressure treated pallets will be heavier and look nicer but can leach nasty chemicals into your potting soil.

The next step is to make each section able to hold potting soil. You can achieve this by stapling landscape fabric to the inside or using other pallet wood to make the cross pieces.  Whatever works is fine.

Fill with your potting mix and fertilizer of choice and then plant whatever herbs your mom likes to cook with and maybe a couple new ones to experiment with too.   Set this in a sunny spot and before you know it your mom will have plenty of fresh herbs.

Remember, thick-leaved herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage can survive NJ winters - so leave those in their spot over the winter and hopefully they will be back year after year for your mom's enjoyment.

Comments, questions, gift ideas of your own? Add them in the comment section below!

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