Oh, I had another idea, what about one of those indoor garden kits for salad greens or culinary herbs? Raising plants is very therapeutic, you can watch them grow every day, you care for them, you look forward to eating them. They have these new hydroponic kits with the included grow lights, maybe you've seen them in gourmet stores. Or if she's got plenty of natural light and more of an inclination to tinker with the soil, just a regular kit with potted plants is a lot less $.