The Potting Shed

Guides, gift ideas and honest answers from the people who hand-pack every kit.

All articles Kintsugi Cheese making Gin making Meat Chilli sauce Wine making Kimchi Gift guides

A bottle of homemade gin with juniper berries, dried citrus peel and a glass of tonic on a rustic wooden table.

Stop buying bottles for the gin lover who owns them all. Three gin making kits, what to add alongside, and the legal question everyone asks.

A wicker hamper packed with food gifts, jars and brown paper parcels on a farmhouse kitchen table.

How to build a homemade Christmas hamper (with things they make themselves)

Build a Christmas hamper around making kits rather than shop-bought jars: which kits to choose, what to add, how to pack it and when to order.

Small food gifts, spices and a wrapped parcel spilling from a Christmas stocking onto a wooden table.

Stocking fillers for foodies: small kits that punch above their size

What makes a stocking filler work for a cook, three making kits with a big payoff, and the small ingredients worth tucking in alongside them.

A workbench laid with craft and food making materials, jars, tools and brown paper packages in warm light.

Gifts for people who like making things: kits, not clutter

Makers want materials and a free Saturday, not another object. Three kits matched to three kinds of maker, plus what else to buy alongside.

Brown paper wrapped gifts tied with string and a sprig of greenery on a rustic wooden table.

Secret Santa gifts under 20 pounds that are not a novelty mug

What makes a Secret Santa gift land, four making kits that suit almost anyone in the office draw, and the non-kit ideas worth considering too.

Strips of homemade beef jerky and a bottle of spiced rum on a wooden table with a bonfire burning in the background.

Bonfire night food and drink: spiced rum, hot sauce and homemade jerky

Bonfire night food should be one-handed and made in advance. Homemade jerky, a bottle of spiced rum and a timing plan that has it all ready by the fifth.

Bottles of homemade hot sauce and dark spiced rum on a wooden table lit by candles beside a fire.

Halloween night in for adults: hot sauce, dark rum and a fire

A Halloween evening in that needs no costume: spiced rum started a week ahead, a range of homemade hot sauces on the table, and a fire to sit beside.

Three bottles of home-infused spirits in different colours on a shelf beside a jar of botanicals and a demijohn.

They already have a gin kit: what to give a maker for the second Christmas

The follow-up present depends on what they enjoyed: blending, the party trick, a different spirit, or making alcohol from fruit rather than infusing it.

A narrow galley kitchen worktop with a jar of infusing botanicals, a bag of kimchi and a small mended bowl holding a tea light.

Gifts for people in small flats: no storage needed, nothing to dust

Presents that borrow space for an evening and give it back: gin, kimchi and kintsugi kits, plus the kits we would avoid for a very small kitchen.

A busy kitchen table on a winter afternoon with a pan of curds, bowls of dried chillies and a broken bowl waiting to be mended.

Something to do together on Boxing Day: kits for the whole family, adults at the helm

Three kitchen table projects for the flattest day of the year: cheese making with children, chilli sauces with teenagers and kintsugi for the evening.

Close view of an ingredient label on the side of a kraft kit box on a kitchen table.

Allergy-aware gift kits: which Sandy Leaf Farm kits carry no allergen ingredients

Which kits carry no allergen ingredients, which carry a may contain statement, which declares sulphites, and what to check before you order a gift.

A kitchen table set up for a first project with a broken bowl, a small brush of gold pigment and a pan of warm milk.

Gifts for someone with no hobbies: kits that give them one

Someone with no hobbies usually lacks an entry point, not interest. Three complete kits that need no equipment, no class and no experience at all.

A small wrapped gift box and a handmade child's card on a desk beside a bottle of homemade gin and a jar of chilli sauce.

Christmas gifts for teachers and TAs that are not another mug

Gift ideas for teachers and teaching assistants that get used up: gin, cheese making and chilli sauce kits, including one that works as a group gift.

Four small kit boxes wrapped for Secret Santa beside a glass of blue gin turning pink with tonic.

Secret Santa gifts under 10 pounds that are not a novelty

Four making kits at ten pounds or less, gin, colour changing gin, spiced rum and hedgerow wine, with what each one makes and what the recipient adds.

A stack of small parcels wrapped in brown paper and tied with string, ready for posting on a wooden table.

Ordering a make-your-own kit for Christmas: dispatch, delivery times and sending it straight to them

How dispatch and delivery work, why kits are a safe early buy, what to do about last posting dates and how to send a kit straight to the recipient.

An empty kitchen worktop with a single plain kit box, a bottle of homemade gin and a few rashers of bacon on a board.

Gifts for people who hate clutter: consumable, finishable, gone by February

Presents that get used up rather than stored: gin, bacon curing and cheese making kits, how quickly each is finished and what to add to them.

Two pairs of hands stretching fresh mozzarella over a bowl on a farmhouse kitchen table, with a jar of infusing gin nearby.

Kitchen date night ideas: cook, make and ferment together

Date night ideas for two in a normal kitchen: fresh cheese in an hour, a bottle of gin started together, and how to keep it feeling like a date.

Three gift-wrapped boxes on a table with juniper berries, dried spices and a gold-seamed ceramic bowl around them.

Christmas gifts under 25 pounds that feel like more

Three making kits under 25 pounds that buy someone several evenings rather than a small object, with what each one includes and what to add.

A jar of freshly made kimchi, a row of chilli sauce bottles and a demijohn of fruit wine on a kitchen worktop.

Vegan Christmas gifts they will actually use: plant-based kits to make at home

Kimchi, chilli sauce and hedgerow wine kits for a plant-based kitchen, what is in each box, what the recipient adds and the one recipe to skip.

A kitchen table with a bowl of fresh curds, small bottles of chilli sauce, a jar of kimchi and a gold-repaired ceramic bowl.

Alcohol-free Christmas gifts that are not a candle: kits for makers who do not drink

Four making kits that involve no alcohol at any stage: cheese, chilli sauce, kimchi and kintsugi, with what the recipient adds to each one.

A plain brown parcel tied with string on a kitchen worktop next to a slab of cured pork belly and a small gold-repaired bowl.

Gifts for the person who says they want nothing

They do not want more possessions, so give something that gets used up: bacon curing, cheese making and kintsugi kits, and how to give them without fuss.