One of the reasons I like to take the week of Canadian Thanksgiving off is that it’s almost always guaranteed to be good weather. It’s usually sunny, and comfortably warm during the day. Perfect for doing the last bits of gardening required for the year.

But not this year. The weather has been miserable – grey, frequently rainy, and most days barely reaching above 10C/50F. Except for Thursday.

Thursday dawned sunny, and by 10 am it was a nice, balmy 14C/57F. I wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

The first thing I did was harvest the carrots.

This was my first attempt at growing carrots, and I definitely made some mistakes. My first planting didn’t get enough water and mostly died. My second planting was too thick, and I didn’t thin them enough. It was also planted a little on the late side. But despite that…. look at all that orange!

Most were on the small side, but that wasn’t surprising given my notes above. But there were still several good sized ones. That’s a cookie sheet they are laid out on so that should give you some idea of size. I cooked several of the bigger ones with dinner that night, and Dave’s been steadily eating the little ones raw since then. So small or not, it’s been a successful experiment. I will definitely be planting more next year.

With the carrots out, I planted up some garlic. I absolutely love using fresh garlic in my cooking, and I’d love to have some homegrown to use. Of course, I won’t get to reap the rewards until next year.

And… I said I wasn’t going to do it… but when I bought the garlic to plant, the nursery I got it from was having a HUGE clearance on perenials.

I ended up filling a flat….

Some familiar friends, but also many new ones. Instead of trying to find space for them in the various gardens – I planted them all in the empty bean bed.

It can serve as sort of a “transfer” garden. They can live there over winter, and come spring, I can expand the garden spaces, and have them in their new homes before it’s time to plant more beans.

I also picked up a Forsythia at an amazing price – just $5.

I planted it just outside the shed where it will bring a wonderful burst of spring colour to the garden.

I also got the climbing roses secured for winter, and all those spring bulbs planted. Now it’s back to rain again. The only thing left to do this season is harvest the remaining squash, which I will probably do this weekend.

There’s still blooms to enjoy until the frosts hit… but the hard work is done for the year – and it’s all been very rewarding!