Maple leaf gratitude

October 11, 2025
Owl Feather Farm, San Juan Island

Maple leaf gratitude

Up north snow is already flying. It may seem to we who live in more clement latitudes that fall has barely started, but in Canada winter’s in the air. Literally in the air, with snow flurries in Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Edmonton and other high-latitude cities

Is that why Canada celebrates its Thanksgiving holiday on the first Monday in October, six weeks before the American version? To beat the snow? As is typical for our northern neighbor, precise delineation is hard to find. Their thanksgiving tradition dates back to early explorer Martin Frobisher’s safe passage to Newfoundland in 1579—long before the British American colonies celebrated any such thing—but there was no official government sanction in either place until both countries gave their holidays more formal national recognition in the late 19th century. And in both nations their histories include celebrations of political events as well as agricultural bounty. James Madison, for example, declared a thanksgiving holiday in 1814 to mark the end of the War of 1812. Canada observed a special thanksgiving in 1872 to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales from an illness.

Maple leaf gratitude
Nanaimo bars are Canadian Thanksgiving treats.

But these are also harvest festivals, and they are a worldwide human tradition. They’re found in, among other places, Britain, Ethiopia, China, Iran, most of Europe and across the globe in Jewish communities (sukkot). Families, friends and neighbors gather for celebratory feasts centered on the foods they have grown and stored that summer.

The actual holiday is a bit less high-profile in maple-leaf land than in the US. In particular, the commercial frenzy that accompanies the November American holiday is much more subdued up north—in keeping with Canada’s overall low-key character.

Maple leaf gratitude
Butter tarts - another Canadian Thanksgiving treat.

Here at Owl Feather Farm, we are harvesting our last beans and tomatoes, turning bushels of apples into cider headed for the freezer and the homes of friends and neighbors, and drying our winter corn stocks… Yes, we really do that. Ground fine, it is what we use for cornbread on blustery, fusty, chill winter days when the August golden sun that grew the golden corn is a December distant glimmer behind the clouds.

This tradition of ours is light-years distant from those held in the average American household today, where life is mostly instant, hectic, prepackaged and comes from far away. Whether north or south of the border, we’d suggest a bicameral holiday dedicated to slowing down and appreciating the bounty the Earth provides that makes human life possible, whatever nation you are in. Go ahead and celebrate twice, yes, Oct 13 and Nov 27. Why not?

—Eric Lucas

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