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All gardeners need to understand how to work with first and last average frost dates. Keeping these dates in mind provides a very good idea of how early to plant different kinds of seeds, and how long to expect a growing season to last. All vegetables take a certain amount of time to mature before they are ready to harvest, so it’s crucial to provide that time. You don’t want to sow tomato seeds in July, because they take several days (or weeks) to germinate, and the plants will not be mature enough to begin flowering for at least a month after that. By the time the first fruits are ripening, the weather will begin cooling down, which is no good for tomatoes.
What is frost?
As air temperature cools after the sun goes down, there is a certain point at which water vapor in humid air condenses into liquid water, and comes out of the atmosphere onto solid surfaces. This is known as the dew poin
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It can be easy to grow vegetables over winter if you equip yourself with the right gear. Outdoors, we use cloche protection, row cover, and mulches to insulate the soil and keep frost off plants. And we choose the hardiest varieties of plants that can deal with the low light levels, short days, and cold growing conditions.
Indoors, the main challenge in growing food plants (at any time of year) is supplying adequate light. If you can achieve this, the range of plants you can grow is really up to your imagination – and determination.
Light, of course, is central to the process of photosynthesis. Proteins inside the tissues of plants contain chlorophyll, which uses light energy to turn carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into organic compounds, including sugars. Without adequate light, plants will grow spindly and weak, and the textures and flavours we look for in food plants will not develop.
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What constitutes spring, exactly? Is it a date on the calendar, or is it a change in the weather? Does spring begin when the Forsythia blooms? What the heck is an equinox? How should a gardener truly decide when it’s the right time to plant seeds?
If you’re a literal-minded person, you might consider the spring equinox (or vernal equinox) to mark the onset of spring. From this point of view, spring will commence at 11:21pm on March 20 th this year. We can say it’s precisely that time because the equinox occurs at an exact moment, and not over a period of days. All winter, the northern hemisphere has been tilted slightly away from the sun. As summer approaches, the tilt changes so the north half of the planet tilts slightly towards the sun. The equinox occurs when Earth’s tilt is neither toward nor away from the sun. If you lived on the equator, the sun would appear to be directly overhead at this time of year. At noon, you would cast almo
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Climate Zones offer general guidance to the kinds of plants that will succeed in your area. The warmer your climate, the higher the number of the Zone you live in. Zones are affected by altitude, exposure to open water, and also protection from the elements. Microclimates like English Bay in Vancouver can provide enough protection to grow palm trees. However, neighbours on a hilly street in North Vancouver may find themselves in different Zones.
The figures below offer a general guide to determining your Zone. Think of the minimum winter temperature in your area in a typical year.
Below -45°C (-49°F) – Zone 0
-45°C (-49°F) – Zone 1
-45 to -40°C (-49 to -40°F) – Zone 2
-40 to -35°C (-40 to -31°F) – Zone 3
-35 to -29°C (-31 to -20°F) – Zone 4
-29 to-23°C (-20 to -9°F) – Zone 5
-23 to -18°C (-9 to -1°F) – Zone 6
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Winter gardening is summer planting for winter harvest.
In our mild Coastal climate we can grow some vegetables all winter without protection. You can eat these plants throughout the winter, so they need to be full size by about Halloween. Until Valentines Day, plants grow very slowly and do not re-grow after harvest as they might in the summer. The greatest challenges are rain, low light levels and temperature swings.
Overwintering is summer planting for spring harvest.
This is a different concept from winter gardening. Overwintered plants go into the cold season as "teenagers," waiting for the lengthening days of spring to finish growing. Certain varieties of onions, garlic, cauliflower and sprouting broccoli need this extra season to develop fully.
Typically, overwintered vegetables need to have some growth achieved before winter frosts—but they keep growing without being covered. In the early Spring, their growth
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