Unlike most of North America, Newfoundland and Labrador have few agricultural communities. The growing season is short, and the soil relatively poor when compared to the other British North American colonies, all of which depended heavily upon agriculture during their early history. Furthermore, Newfoundland settlers quickly realized that they could achieve a higher standard of living by concentrating their labour upon fishing, and importing food from other places. Until 1813 the government officially prohibited fencing in land for farming since it threatened the availability of land for the fishery, but in practice not much was done to discourage the small efforts at agriculture. Many English and Irish settlers came from farming areas, and Newfoundlanders have always grown a few crops near their homes. In the 18th and 19th centuries most households had gardens to supplement families' food, and many had livestock for milk, meat and wool - but people fished for a living and did not sell much farm produce. When families grew more food than they needed, the absence of effective transportation systems made getting surplus crops to market difficult, except in areas close to towns.

The early 19th century saw the first attempts by the government to encourage agriculture as a way to replace imports with local produce, and provide for fishing families that might otherwise go on government relief during the periodic depressions in the fishery. The existence in St. John's of an increasingly large market for fresh milk, meat, vegetables and hay, made farming possible along the outskirts of the town. Despite the growth in acreage under cultivation, farms were scattered along the margins of fishing harbours and few agricultural "communities" emerged.

Two notable exceptions were Goulds and Kilbride, situated along the road from St. John's to Bay Bulls. In the mid-19th century people began to clear the good agricultural land that was now accessible to St. John's by road. Farmers in this area brought vegetables and milk to St. John's by cart to sell to a merchant or to sell door-to-door. Even here, many families could not make a living though farming alone, and many of these farmers also fished part of the year out of Petty Harbour/Maddox Cove - Goulds was one of the few places in 19th century Newfoundland not on the coast. As the population grew, residents built a church and school, and started to see themselves as a "community."