It may be just a week before Thanksgiving, but I'm not thinking about turkey. Instead, I'm thinking my garden should really be put to bed by now. These sunny days with temps in the 50s are a late-season joy, but they only delay the dismaying truth: another Michigan gardening season has come to an end.

Thankfully, there's a particularly vibrant gardening community in the Ann Arbor area, no matter what the season. Just this year, I was invited to join the Ann Arbor Branch of the Woman's National Farm & Garden Association, and 'vibrant' is a fitting description for this friendly, dedicated group. The host of two popular local events, the upcoming Ann Arbor Greens Market and the Ann Arbor Garden Walk in June, the AAFG has been a philanthropic force in our region since 1946, raising and distributing more than $450,000 for scholarships and grants to local horticultural and environmental projects and organizations. If you've visited the Gaffield Children's Garden at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, or the Agrarian Adventure garden at Tappan Middle School, or the hoop house at Growing Hope, you are seeing - literally - the fruits of the AAFG's mission.

The list of projects and recipients is long and diverse: landscaping at numerous sites around town, including Cobblestone Farm, the Ann Arbor Art Center, and the Michigan League; scholarships for students at U-M's Biological Station and its School of Natural Resources and the Environment; horticultural therapy programs and garden installations at Mott Children's Hospital, Glacier Hills nursing center, and Towsley Village at Chelsea Retirement Community; and grants to groups such as 4-H, Recycle Ann Arbor, Huron Valley Girl Scouts, and Starr Commonwealth for Boys. (Note: applications for the next round of grant and scholarship awards are currently being accepted through Dec. 1; the form is available at www.annarborfarmandgarden.org.)

In recognition of these and many other contributions the AAFG has made to the community in its 60-plus-year history, the Ann Arbor City Council passed a resolution at its Nov. 16 meeting proclaiming Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009 "Woman's Farm & Garden Day" in Ann Arbor. That's the date of this year's 64th Ann Arbor Greens Market. Held at Matthaei Botanical Gardens from noon to 6 p.m., the Greens Market is the oldest philanthropic holiday bazaar in the greater Detroit area, offering fresh-cut greens and wreaths, seasonal arrangements and bulbs for forcing, and a wide selection of unique gifts and accessories from local artisans and AAFG members themselves. Handcrafted items and homemade baked goods are a specialty. (I'm told Mary Lindquist's cinnamon rolls are not to be missed!) This totally volunteer-run event has become a festive tradition with a double bonus - not only will your purchases beautify your home or delight a gift recipient, they'll directly help beautify and delight the community at large throughout the year.

For me, there's another reason the Greens Market is a can't-miss event. With our gardens tucked in for the winter (well, in my case, almost), we can share stories and advice amid the scent of evergreens, reacquaint ourselves with the delights of the coming holiday season, and enjoy the company of fellow gardeners, all without the nagging worry that we've let the weeding or harvesting go too long.

I hope you'll join the conversation, both at the Greens Market and in this forum. Vita Sackville-West said, "The more one gardens, the more one learns; and the more one learns, the more one realizes how little one knows."

We've got a lot to talk about.

Carrie Riedeman writes and gardens in Superior Township. Reach her at aafgnews@gmail.com.