Shawn Dawson

Timing Find out the average or typical last frost date in your area and count back 8-10 weeks depending on what you want to plant. Sometimes starting too early can result in root bound plants that can require more space than you can give them inside, and starting too late can result in a short to non-existent harvest. Tomatoes: 6-8 weeks Peppers and Onions: 8-10 weeks Squash, Zucchini, Cucumbers, and Pumpkins: 3-4 weeks For root crops like carrots, radishes, parsnips, etc., it is best to sow...

Fireweed is a perennial wildflower, best known for its breathtaking pink-purple flowers to be found growing in abundant patches. It gets its name because it is one of the first “weeds” to come back after a forest fire. Thanks to its beautiful magenta blooms fireweed is a very easy plant to identify. The flowers can be harvested to make jelly, but the young shoots of fireweed can also be foraged for food because they make a great substitute for asparagus. You will want to pick them before the...

Although not a native plant, I find hops that have escaped from cultivation quite often here in Newfoundland. Early European settlers to the island often planted hops to replace yeast for baking bread, rather than thinking of them as a staple flavouring for brewing beer. Hops can be found growing around old homesteads, climbing up old apple trees or taking over pin cherry or other stands of trees. I am more interested in harvesting the delicious spring shoots rather than the buds or flowers...