Most people would love to be gifted home grown veg, and would have zero concerns that it was grown in the ground. It would be the default expectation. But for your friend you could always just describe how they were grown and ask them if they are cool with it? For the pantry, could you label it as local home grown, so then people know when they are taking it. Sorry that doesn’t really answer your question, Thirnburys idea of putting something in the ground might be the other option.