you can do research by checking www.weathernetwork.com - for the historical weather data on the area.

you can locate properties for sale via www.mls.ca and by the www.homesteadsforsale.com

hope that helps.

Done all that, still doesn't tell me what I want to know.

Moncton is a bit better than where I'm from originally - the Saint John area, where fog from the Bay of Fundy can mean very few sunny, warm days in summer! Moncton can certainly be cold and snowy but not quite as bad as NW Ontario. What kind of hobby farm are you thinking of? If you are looking for nicer climate and in NB, Sussex/Hampton area is nice and has good farmland. Saint Andrews area has nice climate but the land is less suited to farming. The Fredericton area has good farmland, cold winters but warm summers. Flooding can be an issue for land along the river. If I was moving back to NB, I'd aim for Saint Andrews if I was primarily interested in gardening but Hampton/Sussex if I wanted productive agricultural land.

We're thinking chickens, goats, pigs and produce as well as cut flowers.

Dh just wants shorter winters and warmer weather!

It sounds like Hampton/Sussex might be the best area to try.

You have my sympathy. My wife and I currently live in Saskatchewan and want to move to a warmer climate soon. The long, cold, DARK winters are extremely depressing.

Here are my thoughts on the growing season in NB compared to NW. Ont. First, spring and summer definitely get cooler and cloudier as you go from Frederiction to Moncton and eastwards. In general, spring is cooler and fall is warmer than in the Prairies and NW ON. As far as summer weather is concerned,you may find NS just as depressing, if not more, than NW ON. NB is a lot better in that aspect, but once again, the western part of the province is the best. The growing season length is only one way to measure it. Do you want a long, cool growing season (NS), a shorter but warmer growing season (Frederiction area) or something in between (Moncton)? Edmunston is a frost pocket but is also warm and dry in summer.

So many decisions, so little time!

Probably the long cool growing season is best. In addition to hating cold winters, I can't stand really hot summers! I'm a middle of the road kinda gal I guess.

Nova Scotia sounds like it's going to be the right climate for us, just need to find the right house!

I live about an hour by car, North of Moncton but am not quite sure what 'growing season' length entails.
If the season is for veggies then it is probably 4 months, but I have perennials flowering at the moment, my hellebores started flowering as soon as the snow melted.
It does get cold in winter, although this past winter was relatively mild and I don't think the temps got below -23C and even that was only for a few days. I think most years we have some days of up to -30C.
One good thing is that normally we get lots of sunshine in winter which is great. I open the blinds and let the sun shine in and then spend hours moving trays of seedlings around to follow the sun.
We also get good snow cover.

The growing season is the length from first frost (spring) to the last frost (fall). This information is really hard to find for the smaller areas.

The houses we are looking at in New Brunswick are in Cap Pele and Beaubassin.

My dh hates it here because the snow doesn't go away until April (sometimes May) and then it's cold until July. We get two months of somewhat decent weather (some years) and then it goes downhill by the end of August. Freezing temps hit by mid September. So we get 8-10 months of depressing cold weather followed by a mediocre warmer season.

Still debating.

Hi Jenangelcal... I've lived in southern NB all my life in the town of Sussex, it's half way between Moncton and Saint John. Moncton and Sussex are almost identical in zones and seasonal changes, however Moncton is in what we call the snow belt. Not that the temperatures are radically different, it's just that weather systems seem to move directly across the Moncton region and they get more snow than Sussex or Saint John. We start planting her in mid-May and can harvest root vegetable right into November. It can be very hot and sunny a good part of the Spring/Summer/Fall season, however we do have rainy years from time to time. 2010 was an ideal Summer and we got our first real snow today, Dec.27/10 !! Winters can be cold, but usually Jan/Feb are the worst. By the end of March it's starting to feel like spring and the snow is pretty much all gone by the April 15th, sometimes earlier. Personally, I'm an avid gardener and I Love it here. It's the best of all seasons!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Lazy Gardener

I might be a wee late with my advice ( maybe you already have moved)

But Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia is a Heaven for grovers.

I am in a middle kinda woman myself that's why I do love it here.

However Good luck to you to find a place which will make you happy and warm. (it is +3C here right now, so here! :^))

Just moved from the S. Shore of NS to Moncton and there is definitely a lot more snow here and temps are about 5 degrees (Fahr) colder. I doubt if the season is any shorter here than there.

Hey, saw this thread and thought I'd update.

We moved to Bridgetown in the Annapolis Valley. Got a bunch of livestock and are planning the garden!

Here's my blog.

http://littlehomesteadinthevalley.blogspot.com/

I am SO glad I found this thread! We are in the same position, moving east. And this has confirmed a lot of the info I already knew and given me lots to think about....now to find the packing tape and some boxes...oh and a farm to buy. Thanks for the info!

I just found your message and realize it was posted over a year ago?? Did you move? My DH and I moved to NB in 2008 from BC but I was born and raised in ON. Just wondered where you moved to. We are just outside St. Andrews, NB.

We ended up moving to Nova Scotia.

Check us out on my blog, we've done a lot since moving here.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Nova Scotia blog!

You're not too far from me. We're just over the mountain.