November 25, 2023 by IG

Small Business Shopping for Gardeners and Flower Lovers

‘Tis the season for tree trimming, candle lighting, cookie baking and racking your brain for what presents to give your loved ones. You got them that thing last year, the thingamabob the year before and who could forget the whatsit three years ago. That was a hoot…and a half. But now what? Panic no more, we’ve got you covered with some thoughtful, unique gifts from small businesses. Better yet, these businesses are all owned by members of our gardening community, so you can feel good about supporting your fellow gardeners while buying hand made or home grown, as the case may be — gifts you can’t get anywhere else.

The Lavender Homestead

Lavender Goats Milk Soap from The Lavender Homestead.

The Lavender Homestead is located in the horse country of Metamora, MI. where Tricia and Brandon cultivate beautiful, farm-fresh lavender products and flowers.

“Our journey as lavender & flower farmers began with a deep love and appreciation for nature and the outdoors,” says Tricia. Brandon, from Cass City, spent his childhood playing in the woodlands and developing a passion for the outdoors and gardening. Tricia, from Bay City, inherited the love of flowers from her grandmothers, spending hours on their front porches, learning to tend, and harvest the blooms. “Together, we turned our passion into a career, co-founding The Lavender Homestead. We are proud of our ability to bring peace, tranquility, and a little more beauty into this world,” adds Tricia.

Tricia and Brandon extract the oil from their farm grown lavender, creating candles and soaps. You can shop their handmade lavender products on https://www.thelavenderhomestead.com. Here is the complete list of products they sell online:

  • Lavender essential oil
  • Dried lavender bundles
  • Lavender candles
  • Lavender goats milk soap
  • Lavender mist (used for: face/body spray, bug spray, linen spray, etc.)
  • Lavender essential oil roller

These products can be shipped anywhere in the US and they were generous enough to offer our readers a 20% discount code: discord20.

For those of you lucky enough to live close to Metamora, you can find Tricia and Brandon selling fresh flowers & honey at local markets in the warmer months.

Connect with them on Instagram @LavenderHomesteader to see where they’ll pop up next and to follow their farming journey. Currently, they’re in the process of planting hundreds of peonies – just imagine those spring bouquets!

Matt’s Peppers

Matt started his seed store after coming across a chance variegated jalapeño seedling. He spent years growing out subsequent generations until he had a beautiful, white-leaved, purple-stemmed, heavily variegated variety with striped peppers. He named it Mattapeño and has since created dozens of new peppers by crossing the Mattapeño with other rare chili peppers. Shop at https://www.mattspeppers.com. Matt includes a free packet of Mattapeño seeds with every order over $25.

Matt’s signature pepper, the Mattapeño.

Some of his other creations have skeletal looking filiform leaves (leaves composed almost entirely of midrib), which are incredibly ornamental. And some of those are variegated as well! You can also find other unique varieties in his seed store, some bred by him or his pepper breeding contemporaries and others older favorites like ‘Thunder Mountain Longhorn’, a pepper that grows skinny fruit which can reach over a foot in length in the right conditions and has a cayenne-like flavor. Hot pepper lovers especially will enjoy his selection, but he carries milder varieties as well. Matt ships from the US so customs issues may arise for international shipping.

Follow Matt on Instagram @mattspeppers to see absolute mountains of beautiful pepper harvests.

Muse and Maker

Unlined Blank Art Journal featuring Dark and Moody Peonies and Tulips available on Jimmy’s Etsy shop.

You know her as MeatsackJimmy on the Garden Revival Discord server. Every time you see one of her beautiful photographs, you recognize it as her work. Often reminiscent of Dutch baroque still lifes, her floral photography has hypnotic depth, drawing the viewer in to examine every petal. “I take joy in creating and photographing art stories and home grown floral arrangements,” says Jimmy.

iPhone case featuring Cottagecore Dahlias and Fall Flowers available at Jimmy’s Etsy shop.

You can purchase prints of her work, along with a plethora of items featuring her photography, like throw pillows, puzzles, mugs, mouse pads, phone cases, tea towels, journals, greeting cards and even watch bands at https://www.etsy.com/shop/museandmaker and https://society6.com/theandreaborden. The Etsy shop ships internationally and select items ship internationally from Society 6.

You can find Jimmy on Instagram @takephotosmakethings.