I too live in Canada! I have a very small area to work with, but one of the things I'm trying out for an early spring start is using my south east (mostly east) facing wall and placing a raised bed right up against it. What's special about this bed is the large rocks I'm goin to be bordering it with. They are going in 2 deep and hopefully should provide enough thermal mass to make a difference. It is a small bed, totally blocked from the prevailing winds by the townhouse.
I'm also trying to come up with a design for the west facing porch, but I want to capitalize on the shade from the railing and roof. Any ideas on keeping an area hit with lots of wind moist and cool? Vines?
