With the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend upon us, it’s time for the End-of-Season garden update for 2025. Our urban garden has usually been productive, but I think it’s safe to say that this year it has truly outdone itself. If you are new here, we garden in Alberta, Canada, in plant hardiness zone 3.
If you haven’t seen our mitsummer walk through the garden, we invite you to follow this link.
The compost cover
After tilling our garden to get started, we have maintained a no-till garden for over a decade. A no-till garden is one in which you cover the soil instead of turning it over.
We have used various materials for soil cover. Initially, we focused on wood chips, following the Back to Eden method. Additionally, we have incorporated mushroom compost several times. However, I noticed that we had an oversupply of carbon, which meant the beds could benefit from nitrogen. A good source of nitrogen is manure.
It’s important to be cautious when using manure to avoid introducing any harmful substances to the plants. We were fortunate to find a sheep farmer who produced excellent compost. With a load of that compost, we covered all the garden beds and the greenhouse soil.
Good soil, good harvest! Tending to the soil is one of the most important tasks in the garden.
A year for Plums
As you might know, plums can be a bit tricky when it comes to fruit production. They not only have different pollination needs but also do not always bloom at the same time. This year, however, all three of our mature plum trees produced an abundance of fruit.
A reliable plum for our garden has been Mount Royal. It’s said to be self-pollinating, and I think that’s why it always bears some fruit. This year, however, it was loaded with plums. In an urban garden, especially in zones 3-4, this is the plum tree we would recommend.
The Pembina plum was also very productive. It has skipped some years, but with pollinator branches grafted onto it, it’s doing better now.
The Ivanovka plum, we had been waiting for a real harvest for a decade, and this year it did not disappoint. The plums are delicious!
We were able to eat lots of fresh plums, can them, dehydrate them, and make plum jam. Delicious!
The country garden
After struggling significantly last year, I’m glad we didn’t plant the country garden. Instead, we found a lovely family to take care of the property for us in exchange for some vacation days at the cabin.
We aren’t sure yet what the future holds for this garden and, ultimately, for Northern Homestead. There is definitely change ahead.
Thank you for following along
For many years, we have been pushing the limits to see how much food an urban homestead in a cold climate can produce. We have been doing garden updates since 2012, starting on a rented property. Growing food year-round in our cold zone 3 climate.
Along the way, we have inspired many of our readers to grow more food, build greenhouses, preserve their harvests, and embrace a simple lifestyle. It has been a great joy to read your comments and even see some pictures on social media. Thank you so much for following us on this journey. Without our readers, the blog would make no sense. We are very grateful for each and every one of you.
I really do not know what is next for NorthernHomestead. For now, we plan to keep the blog updated and use this transitional period to revisit old content and update it. Who knows, maybe the next season will be exciting in a whole new way!
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We also live in zone 3, but in BC. I have followed this website for years and it has been my go to “book” on growing in the north. Thank you for all of your wonderful ideas on growing in zone 3!
Corinne
Aww, thank you for your comment, it means a lot. We sure don’t know it all, but learn and grow as we go. Thank you for following along!
Thank you for your honest sharing. I too have been challenged in my garden this year, as I had tendon repair surgery mid-July with no weight-bearing then for 6 weeks. Hard to maintain a garden while using a walker. Thanks to my husband and a couple of friends we were able to get most stuff harvested. Need to plant garlic yet; garden won’t get its winter preparation as I’d like – now I’m using a cane, but – there’s always next year. I always enjoy your posts!
Wishing you full recovery. Yes, if the garden is taken care of, skipping a year in some of the tasks does not harm it. Thank you for your kind words.
Your garden did amazing! It was also was a good plum year down here in zone 8b and I had my very first good production of table grapes too and we were experiencing drought conditions. The grapes were so pretty I didn’t even want to pick them so I nibbled on the big ones and left the rest for the birds. Next year I plan to put protection on them. Temperatures dropped yesterday and this morning I had frost on the rooftops so I’ve been transitioning the garden into winter hibernation. I do love all those leaves that are falling for leaf mulch. I’ve been watching videos on making my own liquid garden fertilizer from my own garden waste and I think I’m gonna give it a try next Spring. Most folks around here are holding onto their farm animal manure for their own gardens. Cheers!
I hear you on grapes looking to beautiful to pick. But since they are so delicious, I cant stop eating them.
Glad you had a great garden season, thank you for sharing.