As I look outside just before Halloween and see the flakes of our first real snowfall of the year I thought it would be nice to reflect on the season that was, now that the beds are all prepped for winter.

This year started early, with temperatures reaching the high 20s in the first week of May, allowing for some extra weeks of growing.

From all accounts, there was some exceptional harvests in the garden, some of which were unfortunately not purposely shared with people from the community.  The subject of theft is one we will try to address over the winter.

But back to the good things:

Here’s a picture of the garden just prior to the start of harvest season.  Seeing everything so full always gives my heart a lift.

Thanks to the efforts of Joan, the communal herb garden did extremely well. I know I used enough herbs from here that I never had to buy any during the summer. i hope everyone knows that they are allowed to take from the two herb beds, being respectful to leave some for your fellow gardeners.

Perhaps one of the most telling things that showed how well things were this year were some of the sunflowers. The heads on these were some of the biggest I’ve ever seen.

Of course, as is our mandate, there was a lot that went to the food bank. The proceeds of the donation bed and other contributions from individual gardeners went towards 2 separate food bank trips. resulting in approximately 30 lbs. of food.

Thanks to all the Garden Angels that tended the donation bed and all the gardeners that contributed from their own beds, Well done. After the flood, the food bank was desperate for donations.

Towards the end of September, the garden hosted a “Mingle & Munch” event, where everyone was encouraged to bring a dish from their harvest or cook something on the BBQ to share. All in attendance had a great time talking about what worked (or didn’t) in their garden beds and what their plan for next year was going to be.

The mingle & much events are held twice a year, in spring and in fall. i look forward to seeing everyone at these events. It’s a great low-key way to get to know your fellow gardeners and tap into their knowledge.

To sum up, I hope everyone had an enjoyable time gardening this year, and I look forward to seeing everyone in the garden next year.

Over the winter, we will be having a few meetings to handle some of the administration, bed renewals and society elections, but we are also going to try and host a couple of educational classes if we can. Watch for the e-mails in your inbox.

Thanks to Joan and Betty Jean for the pictures

A few links that you might find useful:

http://bonnieplants.com/library/articles/preserving-your-harvest/
http://www.almanac.com/content/putting-garden-bed