Handmade Gifts from a Country Garden

``To give of your garden is to give of yourself.'' Martin (Laura C. Martin's Southern Garden), an Atlanta gardener, culls her garden for ingredients and ideas to create holiday toys, trifles and crafts. Her book is appealing, neither too lavish nor too homespun, and offers a reasonable range to readers who would like to dip into their backyards for the raw materials of such home projects as pressed flowers and evergreen wreaths. (Also included are recipes for pickled peaches, pesto sauce and apple pie.) After a general overview, the author organizes the book and the gifts by season (and so, violet-jelly shortbread is found listed under spring, since that is when violets bloom). Her aesthetic varies from formal (rosebud napkin rings) to truly rustic (corn-shuck dolls). Certain items may seem overly prim. But directions are clear and careful. In closing, Martin tells us how to plan a garden that will readily yield the makings of crafts. A source list for materials is included, as well as a bibliography. Author tour; Better Homes & Gardens Book Club main selection; BOMC selection; Crafters Choice Book Club selection; Garden Book Club selection. (Oct.)