When to Plant a Vegetable Garden in Toronto
Wait, isn’t that what the May 24 weekend is for? Trying to fit an additional activity into your schedule is hard, but putting aside an entire day or weekend as a parent feels nearly impossible. Before you spend an entire weekend planting all your carefully tended seedlings into the garden and then need another weekend to recover, consider these three factors.
Frost Dates
Blame it on global warming, urbanization, heat island effects… take your pick, our frost dates, and our hardiness zones have changed since our parents or grandparents may have started their garden in the GTA. Toronto’s last frost date is now May 4 but we dive more into that here.
Microclimates
My neighbours flower beds are a foundation planting along a south facing, full-sun wall. Despite having many of the same plants as me, her garden is usually 2-7 days ahead of my south-east, full sun garden. My “vegetable garden” is in giant grow bags, 3-4 metres from my next door neighbours raised vegetable bed, and is typically ready for planting a week before his.
How could this be?! We’re all neighbours in the same growing zone with the same frost dates aren’t we? Yup! But this is how microclimates are so impactful to your space, and why you should spend time familiarizing yourself with them. If this is a new concept, check out our how to read microclimate post here.
Plants are as unique as you and I.
Plants do not all have the same needs. If you are a parent or caregiver of more then one kid, you’ll have a perfect example of this in the kids in front of you. They may both be humans, they might even be the same gender, but they will each require an approach that is unique to them. Some plants are more than fine with being sown directly in the soil while there is still frost and snow. Others need the soil to have reached a certain temperature.
Picking one day to sow everything will result in a collection of plants missing out on prime growing conditions, the potential for you to capitalize on succession planting and the opportunity to pace yourself and not experience gardener burn out at the season opening.
When should you be planting in Toronto then?
For cool weather crops (root vegetables, leafy greens, peas) it is when the soil is no longer saturated and soggy.
It can still be cold. It should still have moisture, but it should have a wetness factor like a rung-out sponge.
Based on your microclimates this may happen in one area of your property weeks before another area. If you have utilized season extenders such as hoop tunnels, this area will be ready before an uncovered bed, even if they are side by side.
Heat lovers (melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) should go out when the night temperatures are holding around 10°C and above.
Everything else? Sow or plant after last frost date.
Our spring season is extremely irregular so I always have a tarp handy, just in case, a cooler night suddenly arrives and the plants need a little blanket.