Each year, around September, I start to think seriously about my personal Christmas gifts for family members and close friends, and every year it is a challenge to create something new, something different, something meaningful from my own world. I spend most of my free time at my farm in Bedford, gardening, cooking, raising small livestock, and conjuring many of the creative ideas that become articles, books and products for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. As these free moments become scarcer (Alexis’ new babies now take up lots of time), I find that the gifts have become simpler but no less evocative — I hope — of nature and the goodness of the homemade and the handmade.

In the past, I have steamed countless plum puddings in handmade crockery bowls, made pates in French pate dishes I’ve collected, baked hundreds of stollen and cookies, and jarred even more hundreds of jams and jellies from the berries I’ve grown. This year, I decided to make gifts that would show off some of the products from the farm. Mind you, nothing is commercially made at Bedford, but with inventive labels and packaging and a little bit of spin, a small idea can appear more thoughtful. And I’ve learned that so many who receive these gifts actually do eat or wear or use what I make. I divided the gifts into groups — edible, wearable, decorative and practical — and the list of recipients into human and animal.

I always find the edible gifts easy to conceive and relatively easy to make. I searched online for pretty jars for honey, lemon curd and preserved lemons.

Using a woodcut I had made for Cantitoe Corners several years ago by Michael McCurdy, I enlisted Martha Stewart Living’s crafts editor, Marcie McGoldrick, to fabricate beautiful labels, which include the logo, contents and date for each of the items. We printed them easily on a home-office printer. I found shapely squarish jars for the honey and the curd and larger French canning jars for the preserved lemons. Smaller labels were made as hang tags for the begonia plants, which I potted in Guy Wolff Pottery planters especially sized for begonias: wide and shallow. I purchased quilted-paper boxes, lined their lids with some shredded paper and wrapped the plants in shrouds of clear cellophane. I grow masses of catmint (Nepeta cataria), and this year, instead of making cat toys, I made soft, fluffy pillows that tie right on top of the cats’ regular beds.

For the first time, the horses contributed their coarse black hair for braided bracelets and large tassels, perfect for drawer pulls, shade pulls and key chains. And the two black Welsh sheep offered their gorgeous wool, which — after shearing, washing, carding and spinning — was knitted into simple vests for my grandchildren, Jude and Truman.

I hope you’ll be inspired to handcraft a few gifts this holiday season and share the things you love with your friends and family.

Preserved Lemons

Let recipients know to rinse lemons well before using (to remove excess salt) and to use only the rinds.

Makes two 1.5-liter jars of whole lemons and two 1-liter jars of lemon pieces.

40 to 50 lg lemons (about 10 lbs), washed and dried

1 box (about 10 C) kosher salt

Sterilize two 1.5-liter canning jars and two 1-liter canning jars with clamp-top lids (we used Fido brand) by boiling them and their rubber seals in water 10 minutes. Remove with tongs and let cool.

Cut stem end off each of 24 to 30 lemons. Make 5 or 6 slits (a little less than 1⁄2 inch deep) down the length of each lemon with a sharp paring knife, cutting to within 1⁄2 inch of bottom of lemon but not all the way through. Press top of lemon with your palm to flatten and cause slits to splay open. Gather and save any juices that accumulate on cutting board. Pack as much salt as possible (about 1 tablespoon) into each slit.

Place about 1⁄2 cup salt in each 1.5-liter jar, and pour in a little lemon juice. Working with 1 jar at a time, add 1 lemon, and flatten as much as possible. Sprinkle in a little more salt, add another lemon and repeat process, adding more juice every so often. Repeat until you reach top of jar (each jar should take 12 to 15 lemons). Seal jars, and refrigerate 20 days, shaking and rotating once a day, before giving as a gift. Most but not all of the salt will dissolve.

For remaining lemons, trim stem end of each lemon and cut in half lengthwise; cut each half into 8 pieces. For every 2 cups of lemon pieces, toss with 1⁄2 cup salt in a bowl. Fill two 1-liter jars with lemon mixture, pressing down as many lemon pieces as possible and causing them to exude some of their juice. Seal jars, and refrigerate at least 10 days, shaking and rotating once a day, before giving as gifts.

Lemon Curd

Makes about four 4-ounce jars.

8 lg egg yolks

Zest of 2 lemons

1⁄2 C plus 2 TBS fresh lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)

1 C sugar

1⁄8 tsp salt

11⁄4 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Sterilize four 4-ounce canning jars by boiling them and their rubber seals in water 10 minutes. Remove with tongs and let cool.

Whisk yolks, lemon zest and juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan to combine. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be sure to scrape sides of pan), until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes, and reaches 160 degrees.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add salt and butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Pour through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover surface of curd with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming). Refrigerate until cold and set, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. Fill jars with curd, and seal; refrigerate until ready to give as gifts.