When you patch up, you'll get an elixir from EA. It has a small symbol in the lower left-hand corner, and you can give things with those symbols to your online friends. Apparently you can also buy surprise packages (presumably with Simpoints) to send to friends, but I haven't tried that yet.
In playing, I've been working with a test file. No problems with gardening, but the plants apparently have a Mycelium stage the day after they're planted. They then return to sprout, growing, etc. My Sim has been able to harvest everything.
I thought there might be a problem with "Have Private Wedding," but the option came up the next day. Maybe Christopher Steel just wasn't in the mood. I was able to host a magician without any difficulty.
Edit: As far as I can tell, the Surprise gifts don't cost anything, either in Simpoints or Simoleons. The Sim that sends them gets 600 happiness points, so they might be banned from dynasties and challenges.