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Things To Know: Growing Zones

 The most important piece of information you need before you start planning your garden is your "Growing Zone". In Canada we use "Plant Hardiness Zones" which was last updated in 2005 with an expected update in 2024. The USA uses the "USDA system" which was updated in 2023. 

The Canadian Government has done a fantastic job at providing resources online to help Canadians determine their local climate zone, see attached graphs below. 



This means where I live, Kitchener-Waterloo, is in climate zone 5. Our average last frost is May 11th and our average first frost is October 1st. Giving me approximately 143 days in a growing season. We have also been seeing warmer than usual temperatures lasting longer into the fall, so an updated map is much awaited by Canadian gardeners.

If you want to get a jump start on the season, plug the last frost information for your zone into this calculator from Johnny's Seeds to get a suggested timeline for seed starting. 

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