Wife's Birthday Present

Rousey

Rousey

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99
Hello Chaps

I am looking for a bit of help... My wife's birthday is looming and like most men I have no imagination when it comes to buying the missus' gifts; added to which we have been married for 22 years and therefore running out of ideas. The added burden is my wife and her mother shared the same birthday and my mother in law passed away a few years ago, which means I to approach her birthday with sensitivity.

Her main interest is gardening but also enjoys cycling. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks, Rousey
 
Hi Rousey! One thing I did for my wife few years ago was arrange a dinner party for her and two sets of friends. I made it a complete surprise, though I suppose this could be optional if yours hates surprises! Because I'd made a big effort it meant a great deal to her and we had a really great night. I think I still bought her a gift, but the meal was the main event. If you aren't happy about cooking but feel like giving it a try I'm sure there's a few guys here that could suggest some simple but effective ideas for the grub. :D
 
Does she like cultivating veg or flowers? Given the poignancy of the day it might be nice commemorate it by planting a fruit tree or grape vine. I know these chaps quite well and will be more than helpful.


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Your'e not too far North in Cambridgeshire so Figs and Vines should grow or push the boat out with a truffle tree although they are small and soil type is critical.
 
Thats a good idea AD.

A couple of years ago i got my missus a worm farm. She is into gardening, but not into receiving gardening stuff for her b'day. So, i thought well she has to have one of these & it must be the first present she opens. Bugger me if it was not the best pressie she got, she really likes the idea of turning household food scraps into first class plant food.

Food for thought, no pun intended.
 
A bottle of Chanel No.5 perfume (the good stuff) works for me - sorry - my wife. I regret to say that I'm not very inspired when it comes to buying gifts these days, unless I trip over just the right thing, but a previous girlfriend was bowled over by a half bottle of vodka and an inflatable parrot, if that's any help.
 
antdad said:
Does she like cultivating veg or flowers? Given the poignancy of the day it might be nice commemorate it by planting a fruit tree or grape vine.quote]

Brilliant idea. Add PigCat's dinner suggestion to the mix and you've all the makings of a memorable day. You could even throw in a new cycling helmet stamped with the brand new TSR logo!

(Don't forget the flowers!)
Click to expand...
 
Thanls guys for all your feedback; the combination of AD & PC's ideas should work well. She is keen on growing flowers but a fig tree is a great idea as she loves figs (to eat). I would never have thought of that idea in a million years.

I had got as far as thinking about getting her a Merkur Progress and a packet of Feathers; me thinks it may not have worked as well as a fig tree....

Thanks again for your valuable help.

Cheers Rousey
 
antdad said:
Does she like cultivating veg or flowers? Given the poignancy of the day it might be nice commemorate it by planting a fruit tree or grape vine..
Click to expand...

Yeah, a somewhat mature grape vine would be a great idea. Take a variety that you can actually harvest for wine (not a table grape, unless you want to eat them rather than make wine), and you'll have another shared hobby in the making. A single vine would probably yield enough grapes for about 2 liters of wine, but you can easily strike/clone them so that you'll have enough vines in about 4 years time to make winemaking a useful activity. We have 16 vines, and our most recent harvest yielded about 30 Liters of must, and is now sitting in carboys (about 25 L of very young wine).

Regent is one of the major mildew-resistant, early ripening varieties. We have Marechal Foch and Leon Millot.
 
Rousey said:
Thanls guys for all your feedback; the combination of AD & PC's ideas should work well. She is keen on growing flowers but a fig tree is a great idea as she loves figs (to eat). I would never have thought of that idea in a million years.
Click to expand...

Research that well, since I don't think you'll get edible figs at this latitude. We've had a fig tree in our garden for more than 20 years (cloned from one my parents have), but the few years it has actually yielded figs, they weren't anything like edible. Not like the thingies you find everywhere in Morocco anyway ;-)
 
I have had success with the "Brown Turkey" variety, my tree's are planted in "restricted" areas where the root growth has been limited and they also require Winter and Spring pruning which is no big deal as it keeps them to a manageable size and induces fruit formation instead of
just branch and lateral growth. If you really want fruit I would also avoid keeping it in a large pot which will require constant feeding and watering.

This article covers everything.

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Thanks. I'll relay this to the gardener in the family ;-)

Since we're moving house in the near future, among other things to be able to grow a decent amount of wine grapes, we may want to consider adding a better fruiting fig to the selection of edible crops we want to grow...

Cheers

Henk
 
Thanks for all your advice guys; the birthday presents went well. The only problem was I ended up being away on business on the day...

Cheers, Rousey
 
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