Heirloom Vegetable Gardens: Updated see thread #1

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Oh man, I LOVE heirlooms! I plan on growing very few hybrids, if any. We just adore the yellow carrots, so sweet and tender. And when the seed catalogs come, it's blissful drowning in plant decriptions, especially tomatoes. I'll never be able to grow them all
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The best part, after flavor, is saving the seed so I save money every year.

Question: I have a small greenhouse (24"x 18"x4' tall) in the house, set up in front of a south-facing glass door. I don't foresee being able to buy flourescent light fixtures to fit the greenhouse this year, it's really hard to find 24" lights that don't cost a fortune. But, I have a tiny space heater that I could use to warm up the greenhouse (it has 4 racks and is enclosed with a plastic cover.) Would the heater and sunny window be enough to grow healthy seedlings? If not, I will scratch the plan and buy starts (hate doing that, expensive - on a good note there is a local garden club that sells heirloom transplants.)
 
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Laura, I would go ahead and start them. Am a bit further south of you in Monticello. Get them started in cold frames, greenhouse or a plastic covered chicken coop. Then when all chance of frost is gone, you can transplant them.

I'm all set to start seeds, I just need to DO it
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I spent a fortune (by my standards~LOL) last year buying fluorescent shop lights (kept just a few inches above the plants they worked great), plastic shoe boxes, 8 oz cups and repurposing metal storage shelves for seed starting. I did sell a few hundred $'s worth of seedlings too to help offset the cost. Since it's NASTY outside today, I think I'll get started...starting seeds
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Steve has a race (enduro-dirtbikes) tomorrow and there is NO WAY I'm going and sitting in the car all day with a super bored 3 year old. The guys are on thier own tomorrow, we're playing in the dirt inside
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Do you think it's too late to start Cauliflower & Broccolli?
 
Udmalbet eggplant
Tomatoes: Heidi paste, Amish paste, Black Krim, Etoile Blanche DAnvers, Lillian's Yellow, Pale Perfect Purple, Brandywine red (you gotta have Brandywine), Liliana red, Yellow Belgian, Roza red
Peppers: Purple Beauty, Thai hot, Black Hungarian, Fish (it's for flavoring fish dishes, like Old Bay Seasoning, doesn't look like fish), Alma paprika
Nobel spinach--I love this spinach, it always does very well for me in my clay-and-rocks soil
Blue curled Scotch kale
Red Acre cabbage
Thompson broccoli
Forellenschuss lettuce
Peas: Green Arrow, Golden sweet, Blawschokkers
Emmer & einkorn wheat
Squash: Boston Marrow, Thelma Sanders
Some other stuff, don't want to mess up my shoebox system to find out--they're all organized by planting dates.

That is some array of watermelons you've got there! The only one that works for me is Blacktail Mountain, which turns out maybe two per vine in my garden. I have tried various other melons that are supposedly for my zone, but they never work out. Even when they produce loads for my neighbors I only get one about the size of a tennis ball, and mostly green by the time we get frost. Don't ask me why, I can grow popcorn that takes 120 days, but melons just hate me, although pumpkins and cucumbers and winter squash do just fine. I mulch em all the same, you'd think one curcurbit would be similar to another. Apparently not.
 

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