Local, Fair Trade, Eco-Fabulous Gift Ideas

Looking for a great gift that’s locally made, unique, and as much fun to give as it is to receive? Look no further than Linden Hills Co-op and Natural Home!

We offer gift cards as well, in any amount and with no penalties or expiration date. Ask any cashier for more information about purchasing a gift card, call 612-922-1159, email info(at)lindenhills.coop, or check out these suggestions.

Organic men’s toiletries from Herban Cowboy They’re vegan, certified organic, packaged in recyclable plastic, and made by Minneapolitans Luke and Lisa Vulmer with lots of food-based ingredients like carrots, cucumber, and ginger.

Native Harvest Wild Rice
Long grains of fragrant, nutty flavor, traditionally hand-harvested on the White Earth reservation. Especially fantastic for faraway friends or snow-birding former Minnesotans.

St. Croix Valley Naturals
It’s winter in Minnesota, when your shoulders naturally begin to migrate up towards your earlobes. Relax and warm up with an organic cotton flannel neckwarmer, filled with flaxseed, heated in the microwave for a few minutes. It’s bringing cozy back.

BT McElrath Chocolates
Bring these along to every holiday party as a host/hostess gift. But only if you want to be invited back! They’re handmade in Minneapolis, with fresh Hope Creamery cream and butter.

Local Gift Baskets
Show your regional pride in a completely delicious fashion with a local foods gift basket from the co-op. Just download this handy list of locally-grown and locally-crafted products and assemble an assortment of great gifts for your favorite friends.

Cheese Course
Here’s another great bring-along for any holiday gathering—pick up an assortment of locally-made cheeses in our cheese department. Try St. Pete’s Select Blue, Chipotle Juusto, PastureLand Gouda, or ask Jason, the co-op’s cheese buyer, for suggestions.

Lovely Lights
We’ve got two great local candles available at Natural Home—Sunleaf Naturals, scented with 100% essential oils in Waconia, Minnesota—or for the purists, beeswax candles from Ames Farm Honey in Watertown. Both companies use all-natural ingredients, no petroleum, lead-free wicks, and lots of creativity. Sunleaf also makes all-natural dish and hand soaps and reed diffusers, and Ames Farm, of course, makes delicious honey!

Minnesota Mittens
For the past three years, these “Mittens with a Mission” have become one of our most popular items at Natural Home. We have customers (and staff) who own several pairs—between the warmth of the double layer of recycled sweater fabric and the warmth of the story behind them (made at the Winona Occupational Rehabilitation Center), they’re irresistible.

A CSA Share
You can’t actually purchase this at our store, but it’s a great (and generous) idea. Many farms that participate in community-supported agriculture are already accepting shareholders for the 2009 growing season. Check the directory at the Land Stewardship Project’s website for details (this year, the CSA farms that delivered share boxes to the co-op were BC Gardens, Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables, Riverbend Farms, Rock Spring Farm, and Sylvan Hills Farm.