Gardening in Newfoundland and Labrador

Everything we have worked out for Newfoundland and Labrador: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.

The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in St. John's, the last spring freeze falls around May 30 and the first fall freeze falls around October 17, 1,006 growing degree days in the year.

That is little accumulated warmth: tomatoes need a tunnel or a greenhouse here, whatever the frost dates suggest. Garlic does well: 34.8 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.

Elsewhere on the property in Newfoundland and Labrador: the pests that turn up here.

Figures from Environment and Climate Change Canada. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.