All your mother needs to grow and reap the rewards of her own herb garden.
Container: Garden trug. Cradles fresh-cut herbs from the garden to the garden salad. Trug, $26, www.thegardenerswarehouse.com.
Contents:

Your Backyard Herb Garden, by Miranda Smith (Rodale Press, $18, www.amazon.com). A full-color, encyclopedic herb guide.

Herb-seed packets. Pick her favorite flavors; about $2.50 each, Renee's Garden, www.reneesgarden.com.

Seed-packet stakes. Clear, to easily identify the herbs; plastic, to repel running rain; $1.40 each for four or more, Lee Valley Tools, www.leevalley.com.

Organic-fertilizer tea bags. Steep them in water, then serve the brew to the herbs. Barnyard Tea Company manure tea bags, $4.50 for 25, Lee Valley Tools.

Traditional Chinese scissors. Elegant shears that snip stems and leaves; $7 for set of four, Lee Valley Tools.

Mud gloves. Colorful, machine-washable gloves to protect hands from dirty jobs; $8, Little's Good Gloves, www.mudglove.com.

Nail brushes. Evict dirt from nails effectively but gently (also good for washing vegetables); $1 for two, Lee Valley Tools.

Glass bottle for herb-infused oil. Pair it with our recipe for Rosemary Olive Oil. Bottle with sealed top, $4, the Container Store, www.containerstore.com.

Hand salve. Soothes and softens roughed-up hands. Burt's Bees Hand Salve, $7, www.burtsbees.com.