October at Abbey Gardens
At Abbey Gardens, October is one of our favourite times of the year.
Not only is October our busiest month for harvesting our two-acre vegetable garden, it also is a month where our property is a hub of activity! 
Abbey Gardens is charitable organization with a mission to re-green our site – 380 acres of former gravel pit! – into a space for recreational, educational, ecological and economic development opportunities for our community to live more sustainably. Abbey Gardens is a community destination in Haliburton County, and so there’s always something fun happening for the whole family.
Thanksgiving is a great time to get festive with family and friends, but if you don’t want to cook, we have you covered! The Food Hub offers Thanksgiving Dinners to-go on October 8 2022.
The Food Hub kitchen team’s famous Thanksgiving Special is available to take home with you – a full turkey dinner for six featuring a roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, squash from the garden, gravy, cranberry sauce, and tea biscuits. Add on an apple or pumpkin pie for dessert and the meal is completely looked after.
One of the biggest events we celebrate in October is our annual Fall Festival, a family-friendly event that takes place on Saturday, October 15 from 12pm – 4pm. This year festival activities will wind throughout the property, with wagon rides to move between the main festival space at the gardens, the snacks and treats at the Food Hub, our handsome (and very photogenic!) ponies at the pony paddock, and of course our pumpkin patch! Guests can take pictures with our festival cutouts, pose with their prized pumpkin, or even catch the blooms at our sunflower patch!
Guests can refuel with wood fired pizza from the Into The Blue food truck or try out gourmet poutine and mac and cheese at the Food Hub, plus hit up the snack bar for festival favourites like caramel apples, cotton candy, popcorn, and more! We’ll also have a full day of activity stations for the kids, including face painting, cookie decorating, pumpkin crafts, and more, PLUS a scavenger hunt throughout the garden (perfect for running off some snack bar induced energy!). This year we’re adding even more fun with midway games and some fun inflatable surprises. Festival tickets are $20 and are available on our website at abbeygardens.ca.
For the adults, the Little Pit Drive In – Canada’s first off grid drive in! – screens Halloween movies all month long, including classic horror movies, thrillers, and family favourites like Hocus Pocus. We’re also hosting our second annual Haunted Trail Experience. Last year we took guests on a wagon wide through our haunted trail, and this year we’re extending the scares by doing trail walks instead – a dark, winding route through the woods with plenty of surprises along the way. On October 29 we’re closing out spooky season with a costume party featuring live music, brews from our friends at Haliburton Highlands Brewing, and delicious treats. 
With so much to do in October, it’s easy to forget that Abbey Gardens also has many amenities year-round that visitors can enjoy at their own pace. Our public trails wind throughout the entire property, and our NEW 18-hole disc golf course includes a trail system that explores a whole new area of the property, including a secret meadow and a historic log chute!
No matter what activities you explore at Abbey Gardens this October, you’re guaranteed to make some family memories! Celebrate the season with us all month long – we can’t wait to see you!
Abbey Gardens
705 754 GROW (4769) info@abbeygardens.ca
