The holidays are looming ever nearer, and it's time to find a gift for your favorite homestead woman.

A homestead woman is probably a gardener, a homemaker and food preserver, and she might have chickens or goats or even a milk cow. These occupations all need equipment, and equipment wears out after time. Why not take a look around the homestead and see what needs to be replaced?

And of course she'll have hobbies and passions and wishes of her own too. The best gift is always one that speaks to the recipient's heart and soul.

But if you need some ideas and suggestions, this gift guide might be helpful. And if you are the homestead woman in question, feel free to pass this on to your favorite gift-giver!




1. Buckets and feed pans are always a welcome item on the homestead. I use black rubber feed pans (affiliate link) for more than just feeding my goats. Larger pans hold water for my Muscovy ducks to play in, and in freezing weather they replace the plastic waterers in my coops. The super large ones work well as containers for vegetable plants (drill a few holes around the bottom edges for drainage).



2. This stable fork is in constant use at our homestead. Yes, I bought it to keep in my horse trailer to scoop "horse apples" when I'm away from home, but it's been a great tool on the homestead too. As well as scooping horse and cow droppings, it's the best tool for moving piles of raked-up fall leaves and grass clippings, and useful when I turn the compost pile over (I use a pitchfork first, then finish up with the stable fork). Wire a piece of 1/4" hardware cloth to the tines and it's perfect for cleaning the chicken coop and even goat berries. Available at farm stores such as Tractor Supply, and at saddle shops and some feed stores.

3. For the homesteader who does a lot of canning, Lehman's carries a bulk sleeve of metal canning lids. There are approximately 345 regular size lids or 288 wide mouth size lids, packaged in a brown paper sleeve. These are the flat metal lids only. They aren't name brand lids, but I've been using them for several years with good results and recommend them.


4. This cute egg basket (affiliate link) would be fun to use when gathering eggs in the chicken coop, as well as look nice on the kitchen counter. This one holds 24 eggs.



5. Even though I'm not a coffee drinker, I have several special coffee mugs that were gifts from friends. I think of the giver each time I have a cup of cocoa or hot homemade broth or soup. A thoughtfully-chosen coffee mug (affiliate link) might be a nice gift.

6. For someone who wants to try soapmaking, an immersion blender (affiliate link) will make the process a lot easier. Trust me on this; I made my first batches without one. Mine has held up to more than ten years of use. 

While you can use just about any sturdy container as a mold, if you're going to make soap regularly you might want a silicon mold so your soap is easy to remove and looks great. I have two of these silicon loaf molds (affiliate link) and one of these heavy duty soap molds (affiliate link). For more information on soapmaking see my series on making goat milk soap.




7. A Foodsaver (affiliate link) is for more than just vacuum-sealing your homegrown vegetables and home-butchered meat. Add marinade when you package the meat, freeze it, and it will marinate while it defrosts. Or read this post to see how you can vacuum seal almost any jar in the kitchen.

8. Cast iron cookware (affiliate link) is a great investment; the pots and pans can last for generations with proper care. Many local hardware stores carry a small selection, or you might order from Lehman's or from Amazon.



9. I love feeding the birds in our yard year-round. I have two squirrel-proof bird feeders similar to this one (affiliate link). Ours are pole-mounted, but this model comes with a hanger too. There seem to be a thousand different models and sizes at hardware stores, big box stores, and Amazon. I fill mine with chicken scratch feed and have the most popular feeders in the neighborhood. (I suspect we're probably the only ones in the neighborhood that feed the birds.)


10. A rain gauge or a weather station are great items to have. Whether you live in the country or on a suburban homestead, it's helpful to know what the high and low temperatures have been for the day and how much rain you've had. We have a weather station similar to this one from Cabela's. A weather radio is another useful gift.

I use a "redneck rain gauge" (ie, I look in the wheelbarrow or feed buckets and know that we had "a little" or "a whole lot" of rain), but real rain gauges (affiliate link) come in a wide variety of sizes and features and many are less than $5.


Plus a few BONUS crafty gift ideas:



11. A few years ago a good friend sent me a card made with seed-embedded paper. I planted the paper and had beautiful zinnias blooming all summer long, then I saved the seeds from those flowers and have planted them each year since. Wouldn't a similar card be a fun gift? Here's another tutorial with a simple method for making seed-embedded tissue paper. If making paper seems too ambitious, you might share some seeds from your garden in printable seed packets like these from Tip Nut.


12. A more ambitious project would be to make a rag rug, or you could give this how-to book as a gift for a crafty recipient. Rags to Rugs is written by my blogging friend Kim Brush.



13. Hard lotion bars are fast and easy to make and only require three ingredients.


I'd love to know which suggestions you think would be the perfect gift for your special homestead woman (especially if that woman is you). Let me know in the comments.



You might also enjoy:
Gift Ideas from the Homestead
10 Gifts for the Homestead Woman
10 More Gifts for the Homestead Woman



This post has been shared at some of my favorite blog hops.


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My hope is to inspire you, and to encourage your homesteading plans and your dreams of a simple, self-reliant, God-dependent life. You can follow me at:
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