10 x 10 seems very small, so I would say this would be one of your biggest factors in choosing what to grow. You mean 10 x 10 feet, right? Given your small gardening space, I would say stick with things that really taste much better when they're home grown. A lot of gardenwebbers may disagree with me, but I find a lot of veggies at the supermarket to be sufficient - I can't see how carrots or celery or onions or broccoli etc. could be so much better when home grown (unless you wait for them to sweeten after the first frost, which some vegetables do - you'll learn about that as you read about gardening) On the same note, you could also focus on things that are overpriced at the supermarket compared to how easy they are to grow. Furthermore, you live in a pretty cold part of the country, so you'll be happy to know that there are a few vegetables that laugh heartily in the face father winter. In the taste department, the big ones are tomatoes. Nothing compares to a real ripened garden tomato; the tomatoes at the supermarket are little red lies - they're picked green to be able to ship well and then made red with ethylene (the ripening hormone). Ethylene ripening works well for most (botanic) fruits, but it's pointless if the fruit (the tomato, in this case) hasn't even MATURED yet! Tomatoes are definitely the one thing that all gardeners and even most of the general populace would agree taste so much better when you grow them yourself. I also find that peppers (capsicum) that I grow are much tastier than the supermarket kind. They're much sweeter and more flavorful. But I can get good peppers because it regularly gets pretty hot and humid here in NJ in the summers, and peppers need that to be really tasty. In the price department you've got shallots and leeks. Definitely overpriced at the supermarket. With shallots, you grow them like garlic, plant the "cloves" during very cool whether when the spring is starting and the days are lengthening (alliums are instigated to grow their bulbs by increasing daylengths). With leeks, you'll need to shore up the dirt or provide some kind of cover to blanch the stalks, but otherwise similarly easy to grow like other alliums. And leeks are one of the cold-hardiest crops. You can leave them in the ground throughout the beginning of the winter and harvest as needed. You plant them in the summer to mature in the autumn/winter, just remember they take a long time to mature, about 4 months. And that increasing daylengths rule doesn't apply since the leek is a stalk, not a storage bulb. All aliums have the added benefit that wildlife don't generally eat them. For cole crops/brassicas, I would recommend you start with collards and/or kale. Both these are closer to their wild ancestors and much more pest/disease resistant than their more refined cousins. Kale also laughs in the face of winter. And both these will be sweeter after a frost (by the way, by frost we mean frosty weather, generally when the temp goes below 40). I would also recommend radishes just because they're easy to grow and have such a fast growth rate - they're mature in three to four weeks. I disagree with the previous poster about beans/peas. They're easy enough to grow and save the seed, they're important to the garden because they add nitrogen to the soil, and they're generally well liked by everyone and quite nutritious. Peas can handle a decent amount of cold weather, so they can be planted when it's cold, before the bugs/pests come out. Green beans/snap beans are well liked by most people, but they are somewhat susceptible to garden pests. I would reccomend you try a more unusual, pest-hardy bean, like runner beans, which have the benefit of also being gorgeous. Most beans can be eaten in the "snap" or "green" stage like green beans if you pick them early enough. And like I said, it's easy enough to save the seed - just wait until the pods are dry and collect the dry peas/beans and save until next season. And just remember to soak the seeds/beans/peas in water to speed germination before you plant them next season. You don't need to worry about cross-pollination of different varieties because most legumes (beans/peas) are self-pollinated, ESPECIALLY peas (I just looked at a pea blossom for the first time here the other day in my grandmother's garden - all the flowers parts are protected inside a flower petal shell, so bugs can't ever get to them). Also remember that legumes usually need a support structure to climb up. You might also want to put in some herbs, which are pretty easy to grow. Mints will definitely grow in your area, as will sage, though I think you're at its cold-hardiness limit, and maybe thyme. You can forget keeping rosemary as an outdoor perennial in your bitter cold. I myself love the smell of lemon balm, which I think is hardy to zone 4, but like mint it is a spreader and can become weedy. Lovage is a nice herb that you could grow, though more susceptible to pests than other herbs. And of course the annuals parsley, dill, and cilantro (though parsley is a biennial and I think might survive winters in your are - so you might be able to save seed if you're interested) Above all read up on gardening as much as you can. If you don't understand something, try googling it. Buy some books. I, like you, don't have much room to garden, and have only gardened two seasons, but I read nonstop so I'm pretty well versed on all the how-to's and what-to-do's.

I'm in NH and a zone cooler than you. I used to direct-sow everything with no issues. The only things I'd purchase were tomatoes & peppers. Since I discovered winter sowing, I do everything in containers outdoors. I will WS my tomatoes ASAP, but I have given up on the peppers, since I just can't seem to do those so well. I haven't got the patience or discipline to do an indoor setup, so this works for me. I started my cool season stuff (lettuce, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, radishes) end of march, and just put the seedlings in the ground this past weekend. I'll WS the rest of my veggies in the next week or so in containers, and plant them out as soon as they have true leaves. (I also have no interest in spending the $$ on 'starts' of plants at a garden center/nursery because the things that I grow (corn, toms, brocolli, zucchini, squash, melons, cukes) do just fine from seed.) Good luck with your garden!

I have tinda, lemon grass, several varieties of Indian eggplants, gongura and bitter gourd started. I am anxious to see how the tinda comes out. I have raised gongura before which is called Jamaica in Mexico and the calyx makes a great cranberry-tasting sauce or juice. I also have a small curry tree I bought last summer from Logee's. It was 5 inches tall when I bought it and now it is almost 2 feet tall and the tip has started growing again now that our days are getting longer. I am not Indian but I am really interested in growing Indian vegetables as I love Indian, Bengali and other South Asian cuisines. I also sell at a local farmers market and hope to be able to cater to some of our South Asian community here. I am also trying wax gourd this year too. I have grown the bitter gourd/melon before and I enjoy the taste.

I know this is an ancient thread, but it's the middle of winter,and I'm exploring the search function, so meh. Some techniques I've had success with -For squash, I don't plant in tires per se, but I use them as a cheap wall o water that sits totally above the soil line. I then put an upside down large pot on top of that and if it's really going to be cold, I cover the upside down pot with a blanket and/or fill the bottom of the tire with hot water before I go to bed. When it grows too big, I just leave the tire there and let it grow over. The thermal mass of the tires really works to hold the heat. And if it's going to be really nippy in the spring, I stack the tires 2 high at night for the extra mass. If you live in a fancy area or have a small garden with plants in close, this might not be for you. - I start corn inside in handmade pots made out of newspaper, and when I transplant them, I just tear a few small rips in the paper and make sure they get soaked when they are in the ground. It's still tricky to get the timing right (you dont want to hold the corn back in pots for too long), but I usually watch the long range forecast like a hawk. When they go in the ground, unless it is raining excessively, I water them with warm (not hot) water for the first week or two to help warm the soil.I grow corn in blocks of about 5'X5', and (once again), for some thermal mass, stack tires 3 high on the northern border of each block during the day, and spread them around the block at night. -The only tomatoes I grow 'outside' (I have a small greenhouse for my indeterminates and peppers) are small determinates or dwarf types in 5 gallon pots. I keep these on a large homemade cart and wheel it in and out of my garage every morning/night (or in bad weather). I used to do this by just carrying the pots individually, but using a cart is much easier on the back. -My cukes I do like the small tomatoes, except there's 2 in each pot.They have long vines, so I put one tomato cage in the pot like normal, then take another, turn it upside down, and tie it with mechanics wire on top the first. I baby my heat lovers, but the rest get tough love and do fine.