Skip to main content

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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Supporting Canadian Seeds

There's just something mesmerizing about a freshly stocked seed display... It's easy to get lost in the bright colours and various shapes, little packages of potential. A favorite past-time of mine in the winter is to review seed catalogues (typically print copy but pdfs are becoming more common) for the same reason - they're just really beautiful to look at.  Burpee Seeds (I haven't tried them - they financially support Monsanto)  Over the years I have tried a handful of different seed companies, although I try to order from exclusively Canadian companies.  The only exceptions so far have been Valley Greene (which I bought at a local surplus depot) and this year (2021) when I placed an order with Baker's Creek based out of Missouri. Here's a list of companies I have used and my thoughts on them.  OSC / Aimers (Waterloo, ON) OSC Display in a local nursery I was lucky enough to be born and raised in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario - meaning "OSC" or Ontario...
Post a Comment
Read more

KelKel Farm Evolution

 The KelKel Farm as a concept started in 2014, with a dozen or so potted tomatoes on the back deck and a single raised garden bed. The excitement of growing my own food from a tiny seed was enough to get me hooked on gardening.  At this time I was doing all my seeding in partnership with my grandfather, using the adjustable light table in his basement. It was a present from his children and cost well over $1,000 when it was purchased. He hadn't used it in a few years and was thrilled to dust it off for me.  Grandpa's Light Table in 2016 In early 2017 I purchased a metal shelving unit from Canadian Tire and some 2ft Sunblaster LED's from Lee Valley, it worked alright but the lack of adjustable shelves meant the majority of my seedlings were quite leggy (stretched out stems). The capacity was also limited. My first attempt at a grow light table I quickly realized that wasn't going to work for my needs and purchased a 4ft x 6 ft metal storage unit from IKEA, I purchased so...
Post a Comment
Read more