Welcome back for part two of my gardening shenanigans here in Newfoundland. Many seed packets say you can plant them outside after the last frost. Well, here in Newfoundland, you might want to wait a little bit longer before planting your seeds and sprouts outside. The ground has to be warm and workable enough if you’re digging a garden, but you also want to be sure there’s no more snowfall and plenty of daily sunshine. It’s good to consider the growing time of each crop as well.
I’ll be planting my seeds and sprouts outside starting on the May Full Flower Moon, which falls on the 23rd this year. Seemed a lovely day to officially start the garden. In the meantime, I’m digging up my yard, planning the garden layout, germinating seeds, and gaining knowledge from local friends who know a thing or two about gardening.
Potatoes, for example, usually take about 100 days to grow and require full-sun. The best months for sunshine here in Newfoundland are usually June, July, and August, therefore, if you plant your potatoes too early when the snow melts (April), you may not have a great yield because they won’t get enough proper sunshine. Planting potatoes the last week of May or early June should help them grow better with the peak summer sun.
I’m using the wet paper towel method for germination and it works quite well. I placed a layer of plastic wrap, then a layer of paper towel, sprayed it down with water, placed the seeds on the paper towel, and then covered it all with another layer of plastic wrap. The main goal for successful germination is to provide the seeds with proper water, air, and light.
I set the seeds under a window to germinate with natural light and made sure to keep the paper towel and seeds consistently damp. After a week or so the majority of the seeds sprouted and then I moved them into mini pots with seed starting mix and soil. After another week I began to see so many sprouts emerge and I sighed some relief – Things were going well!
I really enjoyed the germination part of this adventure and learning about all the seeds. Some were super tiny (mint) whilst others were much larger (nasturtiums) and they all sprouted at different times. Radish seeds sprout super fast whereas pumpkin and zucchini take much longer. I had all the seeds labelled and organized on the table under my window and it was very satisfying checking in on them daily and tracking their growth.
Newfoundland being “da rock” holds true when finding a spot to dig a garden. I dug up a couple sections of my yard to see what the ground below looked like and gosh it was rocky. Tried another spot, same thing. None to worry! I didn’t give up hope and found the perfect spot on the back of my house. The ground had lots of soil under the grass, lots of worms and organic matter in the soil, and the whole area gets full sunshine from 10am until sunset. Perfect!
Now it’s time to get my hands dirty and get to work. I used a cutter and a grubber to dig up the grass and I’ll be very honest with you, this part is hard work by hand. I cut the area into rows roughly a foot wide, and then slowly dug up the sod and relocated the pieces to different parts of the yard. My hands got blistered and my feet sore from jumping on the cutter, but it’s been a rewarding workout thus far. Be sure to wear gloves and proper footwear, folks!
I still have some digging left to do in the garden and then I’ll be preparing the raised beds. Some of my seeds are ready to go in the garden… but the garden is not ready for those seeds… so I’ve put them in mini greenhouse pots and placed them outside for now.
Stay tuned for Growing a Garden in Newfoundland: Part Three if you’re interested in seeing my garden once I plant everything outside and the layout for the crops. I also have a plan to protect my crops from hungry rabbits, birds, and bugs, yes by!
Until next time…
Whoa Dana 
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