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You'd be surprised what grows here. I live in Winnipeg and we grow grapes here.
For produce though, it's usually things like lettuce, broccoli, etc., that we can grow during summer (only).
We decided to fill an entire planter with beets for longer term use through the next winter. They've been seeded already (last fall).
I live in Winnipeg and we grow grapes here.
Holy smokes! I thought grapes only grew in temperature BC and Southern Ontario.
Obviously we can't get every species to grow here. But we harvest about 25L of grapes from our single vine every year, mostly for jam. And it's amazing. The grape we have is something like a concorde, although I've never actually dug too deep into the species.
Check out Corn Hill Nursery on the east coast for a great selection of grapes that grow in Canada. I'm sure there are similar places in central/west. It used to be mostly wine and jam/jelly grapes like Concord you could grow here but now there are more hardy table grape varieties too.
We are in Cape Breton and we grow all kinds of stuff. Figs, peaches, apples, pears, raspberries, blackberries, haskaps, strawberries, cherries, grapes, blueberries, plums, carrots, potatoes, peas, beets, all the lettuces and greens, cabbage, Brussels, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, onions, lemongrass, artichokes, asparagus, tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, peppers, all the herbs, tomatillos, ground cherries, garlic, walnuts, hazelnuts, mushrooms of various kinds and even more than that.
We grow greens and cold gearty veg all year round I our greenhouse and switch crops with the seasons. We use no till systems, meaning we use no equipment aside from a quad to help move heavy loads, a truck for hauling stuff to the property and out and are regenerative meaning we make and supply all our own inputs like compost and fertilizers.
All grown on less than 1/4 acre and includes a 20x50 hightunnel greenhouse and loads of outdoor beds. We do not have a lawn. We also raise 100 meat chickens, 15-50 laying hens and fish hunt trap and forage a lot of food. We barter with neighbors for what we can't manage on our own. We preserve our fresh goods in various ways so we have them year round and store some fresh goods as is year round.
Commercially we can grow everything in country with a little science and investment and willingness to raise wages and food costs to normal levels. There are farms in Canada already growing all sorts of tropical fruits like bananas, pineapples, citrus fruits and more.
This year will be my first time trying to grow food from seeds (so I may or may not do it right). I'm in Ontario (zone 6a/6b). I have started strawberries, red bergamots, thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, tomatoes, zucchini, kale, bell peppers. I'm planning to start lettuces and spinach in early April. I also have seeds that I will simply sow outside (carrots, peas, beans, cucumbers, pollinators' wild flowers).
Spinach has been a bit hard to find from non-US. You can start that outdoors now in most places, if you have a cold frame or other protection (or if you live somewhere warm like Victoria or Annapolis Valley). Overall, apparently avocados, garlic, lemons/limes, peppers, eggplant, spinach, and sweet potatoes are the things we are most dependent on imports for. Avocados, lemons/limes and sweet potatoes are a little more difficult to do in Canada but the others are easy to grow here. And I expect that citrus and avocados come from Mexico more than the US. The crops we import the most of from the US are apparently apples, strawberries, avocados, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, cabbage, and tomatoes. Other than avocados those are all easily grown in Canada.
Lettuce seems to be a big one. I haven’t found any non-American romaine at several stores.
Lettuce is super easy too. Don’t need to start it indoors. Doesn’t need much light. You can keep harvesting leaves over a period of time or just hack off the head and sow new seeds a few times a season.