Swede · Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
When to plant swedes in Edmonton
Main outdoor window
22 Jul - 12 Aug
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
13 May
In Edmonton, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
20 Oct - 19 Nov
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Edmonton
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Sow direct
22 Jul - 12 Aug
Ten weeks after your last frost.
Harvest
20 Oct - 19 Nov
Swedes through the year
Against the frost risk in Edmonton
Why these dates
Sow direct about ten weeks after the last frost, aiming to mature into cool autumn weather. Thin ruthlessly - crowded swedes stay small.
Very hardy, taking -10C in the ground, and sweeter after frost. Can be left in the soil and lifted through winter in most climates.
Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Swedes are timed for direct sowing 10 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Edmonton.
The median frost-free season here is 137 days, against 90 to 120 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.
Also in Edmonton
Other vegetables to time
Growing swedes in Edmonton
When should I plant swedes in Edmonton?
Aim for 22 Jul - 12 Aug in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 31 Jul - 21 Aug - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will swedes be ready to harvest in Edmonton?
Expect to start picking around 20 Oct - 19 Nov, based on 90 to 120 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will swedes tolerate?
Very hardy, taking -10C in the ground, and sweeter after frost. Can be left in the soil and lifted through winter in most climates.