The Bucolia Gift Guide
It’s that time of the year when daytime ends abruptly at 4pm, the sweatpants beckon, and you find yourself addicted to re-watching prestige tv drama from the early 2000's. Somehow, it's also the time of year where you're being asked to dress up and either socialize with people you see most days, only in an awkward context, or socialize with people you haven't seen since the last time you had to dress up. The hibernatory activities are hard to quit. The social activities are hard to start. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the holidays. This is also that time of year when marketing tactics disguised as gift guides flood your inbox. For my cherished Bucolia readers, I’ve compiled a bespoke gift guide for the rural homesteader, weekend gardener, or city-snared dweller longing for a fresh-air scented raison d’être. I hope you enjoy.
Grampa’s Weeder
I could wax endlessly about the joys of a Grampa’s Weeder. It’s not just a cleverly-designed weed-pulling tool, it’s a meditation practice. Something bothering you? Can’t concentrate? Walk onto the lawn with your Grampa’s Weeder and the answers will reveal themselves. With a bamboo handle, steel head, and zero plastic, it’s built to last a lifetime of sisyphean attempts at weed control.
Leather Work Gloves
Someone please explain to me why work gloves come in any material other than leather? Every time I’m in Portland, I swing by BiMart and by myself another pair. Not because I go through them so quickly (I demolished one pair over the summer), but because I never want to find myself without them. For blackberries and thorny plants, you want reinforced padding, but for everyday gardening, pruning, wood carrying, or weeding, a pair of Kinko cow-hide gloves does the trick. If you have anyone in your life with hands, this is a must-give.
Kinko Cowhide Work Gloves, $20.99
Gerber Pocket Knife
Maybe one day I’ll graduate to a multi-tool, but for now, this is always in a pocket, just not necessarily always in a pocket that I’m wearing. I use it to open packages and break down cardboard boxes. Pro-tip, gift multiple knives, so they have one for multiple pockets.
Leatherman Pocket Tool
Come to think of it, I think I am at a multi-tool place in life right now. So while the pocket knife is a great starter knife for that loved one who is always looking for something to open a package with, we both might want to think about something like this Leatherman Rebar for someone who could really use a pair of needle-nosed pliers at all times, like me.
Leatherman Rebar Multi-Tool, $72
Gardening Apron
Why just weed, when you can also prune, carry your phone and pocketknife or multi-tool, and have pocket storage for errant tennis balls? A gardening apron solves the “where can I put this tool while I’m not using it?” dilemma. Admittedly, I don’t actually own a gardening apron yet, but man, this one from Felco looks very comprehensive!
Garden Clogs
I had a pair of Blundstone’s that lasted about 3 years. When I needed to replace them, I discovered the Wexford Lug Chelsea Boot from Ariat. (Basically a Blundstone with a little more give, plus it’s a female founded brand). However, there’s numerous “quick trips” to be made outdoors when pulling on a pair of chelsea boots is just kind of cumbersome. Gardening clogs are like house shoes for the outdoors. At least that’s what I imagine.
Gardenheir Italian Garden Clogs, $78
Heated Mattress Pad
I love sleeping in a cold room. I don’t, however, love trying to fall asleep in a cold room. Wirecutter recommends the Sunbeam Electric Heated Mattress Pad, and so do 9500 reviewers on Amazon. Do I? I don’t know yet, but I bet a warm mattress in a 50º bedroom feels really nice, and I bet my cabin guests would agree!
Sunbeam Electric Heated Mattress Pad, $110
Excavator
You really want to make a set of eyes pop this holiday season? Forget the Lexus; slap a red ribbon on a compact excavator, and prepare to be worshiped. Keep that bamboo where you want it, and be rid of it where you don’t. That acre and a half of gorse, scotchbroom, hawthorn and blackberry won’t know what hit them. Want to make some curtain drains to keep the ground from seething with water? Want to make big, big plies of debris? An excavator is one of those things you think, “Oh that’s too much. She won’t want to learn how to operate that”, but I assure you, she does, and she will.
The Gift That Keeps Giving
Now here’s something really special; The gift of support. This can be as simple as sharing this blog with your friends, and as robust as a paid membership.
For the last fifteen years, I've dreamt of creating a rural retreat for creatives to redefine our relationship to work and the natural world. And now, I am so lucky to have a charming 650 sq foot hand-built cabin with the best views on the property, with which to launch this dream. Breathtaking vistas. Sumptuous meals. An opportunity to slow down and get your hands dirty.
Maybe you’re a writer, wanting to finally hammer out that novel, or an artist needing the space and room to create, or a human being who’s had a hard time and could use a place to think or not-think for a week or two. I'm raising funds to add a bathroom to the Fox Cabin, so that by spring of 2026 it will be available for retreats (1 to 2 weeks) for those seeking an opportunity to focus on their creative practice, or just commune with the air and earth in a very special pocket of the world. Check out the different support tiers below!