With just over a week of shopping until Christmas, shoppers are in the home stretch of the gift purchasing season.

If you are on the search for unique holiday gifts, perhaps a present revolving around a gardening theme would be welcomed. 

I've narrowed the list to my favorites and categorized them into groups - people who are thinking about gardening, those who are new to gardening, individuals who are already gardening, the hard-core gardener and lastly, children. 

And really, people passionate about growing their own food would love any of the gifts listed below.

Thinking about gardening: This category includes people who are thinking that maybe, someday, they might want to throw a seed into some dirt and see what happens.

• Recommended reads: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and Food For My Daughters (written by local author Pattie Baker, and is a true story about a woman who went from zippo gardening experience to an urban farmer who grows all of her own food as well as food for those in need.  I highly recommend this book).

New to Gardening: These people are done thinking about it and are in the process of digging in.

• Books: Square Foot Gardening or one of Walter Reeves' outstanding books about gardening in Georgia (my favorite is Month-by-Month Gardening in Georgia)
• Gift certificate for classes or products at the Atlanta-based Farmer D's Organics (gardeners at any stage would welcome this in their stocking!)
• A vegetable garden planner that assists with when to plant what.
• Garden gloves

Already Gardening:  These individuals are growing edibles and are prepared to take their experience to the next level.

• Books: Let It Rot! The Gardeners Guide to Composting  or a magazine subscription to Organic Gardening.
• Compost pail-  I filled my under the cabinet compost pail nearly daily for trips outside to the compost bin.
• Compost bin- I am simply in love with my rolling compost bin. 
• Rain gauge- people typically water their gardens far too often. One inch of water per week is the standard, and a rain gauge will help measure when you need to water.

Hard-Core Gardeners:  These are the die-hard gardeners who live, breathe and eat (pardon the pun!) gardening.  They grow much of their own food and spend more time watching lettuce grow than watching TV.

• Books: Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving or a garden journal for planning and documenting
• canning supplies, pressure cooker, dehydrator, food saver
• Magazines:  Birds and Blooms (my Mom's favorite) or Urban Farm (my favorite) 
• Fruit bearing tree or bush: The Atlanta Local Food Initiative is having a sale in mid-January and you can pre-order everything from blueberry bushes to muscadine vines to fig trees here.
• Rain barrel- I have three and as a result, only had to use the hose once last summer to water my home garden.

Kid Gardeners: Yes, kids LOVE to dig in the dirt, and not only elementary-aged children.  Patti (the author) recently implemented a gardening program at a middle school in Dunwoody that is a HUGE hit with this age group.

• Books: There are many excellent gardening books my kids enjoy; many of our favorite are listed on Amazon here.
• A trip to a near by nature center or to the Gwinnett County Environmental Heritage Center.
• My kids enjoy using their own kid-size gardening tools (gloves, shovel, rake, etc.).