A warming climate is changing what you can grow in Canada — slowly

We have things growing we shouldn't be able to grow and they produce. A lot. We've seen massive changes in weather over the past decade. Now we grow figs, Almonds, peaches and cherries. In Cape Breton. Traditionally we were a root veggie kinda place when it came to growing food.

We've increased by almost two full growing zones in that time. When we moved back we built a greenhouse to extend our seasons. Mid summer it's too hot now and we need to cool it. Many winters we could grow our winter crops outdoors now.

In fact, about 80 per cent of the country has seen its zone increase because of warming temperatures. For example, some zones in southern Ontario have expanded by half a zone or more. The researchers point to an increase in grape cultivation in the region by 25 per cent from 1990 to 2020, and say shifts in the hardiness zones could lead to "new horticultural opportunities over time."

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"Climate change, it's not even so much about warming. It's about the instability, right? And the unpredictability of the weather and the extreme examples of weather that we're dealing with," she said, adding that makes it especially hard for new growers to try out new plants.