Gift ideas for mum

Berry nice

Snowberry Try Me Pack

New Zealand skincare company Snowberry is certified carbon neutral and uses only sustainably harvested ingredients cultivated in their own gardens – a 22ha native plantation in Northland. The products contain no nasties, and only biodegradable and recyclable packaging materials are used. The Try Me Pack has six sample-sized tubes so your mum can work out which products are best suited to her skin type.

$48 from www.snowberrybeauty.com

Perk her up

12 months of Kokako coffee

For the caffeine-hungry mum. Each month she will receive a 200g bag of Fairtrade organic coffee (with the option of whole beans or espresso, filter or plunger grinds), roasted and dispatched direct from Kokako with a bonus 250g Kokako drinking chocolate pack with the first coffee delivery. Kokako works with other sustainable businesses and the Fairtrade movement.

$165 from www.kokako.co.nz

Om nom nom…

Polka Chocolate

This beautifully packaged and ridiculously delicious handmade chocolate uses organic, fairly traded cacao beans from the Dominican Republic and locally sourced added ingredients – like the roses, which are picked from the family garden. Flavours include Salted Hazelnut, Sesame Toffee, Coconut Chip, Crystallised Rose and Original. Buy at least two bars so your mum stands a chance of getting one of them.

From $9 for 50g from www.polkachocolate.com

Put a ring on it

Beach stone ring by Stone Arrow

Set in sterling silver, the stone in this ring has been shaped by the wild waves of the South Island’s west coast. Stone Arrow is a member of the NZ Sustainable Business Network and it donates a percentage of its profits to charity. There are matching earrings too, if your mum has really outdone herself.

$189 from www.stonearrow.co.nz

Go retro

Cushion cover

How about this handmade cushion cover made from recycled pure New Zealand wool blankets? It’s heart-warming to know these familiar woolly blankets are getting put to good use again.

$59 from www.greenwithenvy.co.nz

Make it with the kids!

DIY portable tea garden

Easy enough for kids to make (with a little adult supervision), this is a lovely homemade gift for tea-drinking mums and only takes a few minutes to rustle up. All you need is a wooden crate (one that offers ample drainage), soil, and a selection of herbs (which can be added to black tea or enjoyed on their own steeped in hot water). We planted mint, lavender, pineapple sage and rosemary. Tell your mum to put her tea garden in a sunny spot outdoors.

Approx. $10

Mini but mighty

Kauri tree gift box

In the right conditions kauri can reach up to 12m within 30-40 years, so this gift might be better suited to a mum with a decent sized backyard. The baby kauri comes in a wooden planter and is packaged in a gift box (both made of sustainable untreated pine), which can be reused as a planter box or for storage.

$62.50 from www.nztreesplease.co.nz

Smoothie move

Little Bird Organics three-day spring clean voucher

The Little Bird three-day spring clean treats your mum to a feast of raw, organic yumminess. Each day she’ll get six juices and smoothies plus a salad for dinner. It’s designed to give her digestion a rest while delivering loads of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes. Little Bird uses biodegradable knives, forks, straws and takeaway containers. A one-day cleanse is available, too.

$300 from www.littlebirdorganics.co.nz

Book in some time

Organic Vegetable Gardening book

New Zealand author and landscape-design guru Xanthe White documents a year in the garden she built from scratch in a rundown inner-city backyard. With a month-by-month diary offering practical guides to sowing, planting, pests and diseases, making compost and mulching, she demystifies organic gardening and shows beginners that growing organic doesn’t have to be hard.

$44.54 from www.xanthewhitedesign.co.nz/books