You're in the same zone as I am. I'm in central Saskatchewan and we normally have warmer summers than you, but this year it has been very cold and rainy with no change in sight, June has been 3 degrees C below normal. The watermelon and butternut squash will do better in the greenhouse. That's a given. The herbs will likely do better outside, especially if you have cool-season herbs (which most herbs are, except basil). Things like dill, cilantro, chives, chervil, rosemary, sage, etc. should be outside and they can tolerate some frost. Only basil needs to be started indoors. The tomatoes, corn and zucchini could go either way. They like it warm but not hot. I would keep some inside and some outside, so that no matter how the summer turns out this year, you have something. Corn takes up a lot of space so I would put it all outside. This post was edited by Slimy_Okra on Tue, Jun 24, 14 at 11:58

Yes, Katamari is the rolling stuff up game. Its really addictive for such a simple game, and theres three of them. The part I like the most is the amazing effort they put into the music. I found some of it on youtube and it ranges from techno to jazzy lounge music, swing music, Im pretty sure someone even snuck a gospel peice or two in there. While Iw as writing yesterday I stumbled across someone who had done an orchestral version of one of the themse that made my jaw drop. Video game music is constantly impressing me with every passing year. But anyway, back to gardening... Part of my problem with the space issue is theres a movement out here for the "Grow Biointensive" system. While I'm interested that they've managed to do so much with such small topsoil space, I've noticed all the beds dealing with the system need at least two feet of soil, dug down or in raised beds, and thats not what I have. My mum has been trying to push me in that direction, but I dont feel confident with it at this time since I wanted to get more of a feel for the general gardening situation since its my first time and all. Some plants still got pushed closer together than I would've liked but then none of us had seen some of these plants actually growing before. The cukes are doign better than I expected for being about 6 inches closer to each toher plant than I really wanted them to be, but we had such a huge amount of plants to deal with that I did the best I could. I think the funniest part about all this is while it is my first time growing a real garden, I've been growing virtual gardens since I was abotu 19, playing an online game called "Final Fantasy 11", which had a really complicated planting/gardening system most people didnt know about. That game system is actually what got me really focused on the seasons, when to plant, where to plant, when to fertilize, what plants grew better in what geological areas, and I even had a little notebook for a long time where I'd record the weekly cycle of my virtual plants in relation to the moon phase and exact time I made any modifications to the planting space. Even the gamers thought I was nuts, but I loved it! They'd even die off or give terrible results if I neglected them for too long, or give off better results if I got proper gardening tools, workbenches, and diffrent planters had diffrent effects too. Im getting better results with a real garden than I was in my virtual gardens though... Except for that one time I accidentally harvested 122 virtual onions. I can tell you, the cooks sure were happy with me.

70 is the magic number. Most of the common veggie seeds sprout when the temps are around 70 degrees, not too hot or not too cold. Plenty of the plants on your list will handle our winters without a problem but they have to be kinda large to do well since once the daylight shrinks in mid November there just isn't enough light to encourage strong growth. So you have to either start seeds indoors under lights and wait for the summer heat to go away (please please please) or buy seedlings from the garden center. I imagine stuff will show up at the end of August. Carrots taste sweeter if grown in the winter. The biggest problem is that it takes all winter long to get large carrots and they don't sprout well in high heat, and they hate being transplanted so you're at their mercy - sow seeds in mid or late August and don't expect big carrots until next spring. Beets taste better if grown during the cool part of the year also. They're easy and grow fast and don't mind the cold. Chard looks better in the winter but you can grow it pretty much all year long here. (It is just a beet that doesn't form much of a bulb). I've planted my last crop of green beans now and should be picking beans up until frost. There's still plenty of time for them. Bok Choy and all the other Asian greens can be sown the minute the daytime temps get under 85 (hopefully 70). They don't sprout much in high heat. They usually hold up during the minor freezes. The leaves sometimes show damage from harsh winter weather - but usually they do fine and taste better with nightly frosts. Brussels Sprouts are only worth growing if you're gonna leave them on the plant through the winter - otherwise they taste just like storebought cabbage. The sprouts will kinda stand still once things cool off but they get candy sweet when the nights get frosty. I get better broccoli in the winter than in the spring but I usually have to plant store bought seedlings a couple of times to get them in the ground right when the temps cool off - it's always a guessing game. If your garlic bulbs haven't rotted they will resprout and grow all winter - they are unfazed by cold. As far as what else can you grow - I like Arugula or Rocket and any of the small Cress greens. Stuff like Fava beans will grow through the winter here but you don't get beans until mid Spring (keep in mind that some people are allergic to Fava's). I would also plant some Shallots - they do well, are as easy as garlic and you can pluck out a bulb or two whenever you want one rather than having a season like garlic. I protect my winter greens (lettuce, spinach, arugula) with a plastic covering and have never had a problem with the cold. A 4 by 4 space devoted to greens will feed you til next spring when you can grow them without protection. Good luck.

Thanks again everyone for your kind words! Tom, I plan on canning various pickles and hopefully A LOT of spaghetti sauce (42 tomato plants in all :-) since we eat that at least once a week. I would love to sell some of the excess, but I don't know what the laws/regulations are for DeLand/ Volusia County. Anyone know? katkin, Scarlett is a toy poodle, Rhett is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. They are both great dogs and it is so funny to watch them play! Felix, So far I have not added any fertilizer nor chemical pesticides. I just spray with Thuricide about every 10 days or so. When we added leaves, we put about 30 large bags down, then tilled. I did not go through and pick out all the grass, which is why the weeds are CRAZY, but one good thing about doing that was that some of the grass and weeds that were growing did die and were left in the soil to add more organic matter and free plant food :-) I planted so many because I knew weeds would be an issue, and I really didn't know how everything would grow in the newly created bed. I am giving the new plot a year before I expect it to really start producing fruits and veggies! :-D Ok, back to fertilizer, I am planning to put down a mixture of bone/blood meal, lime, potash, and more compost when the growth begins to slow. I also have a large rabbit who contributes daily to the compost pile, and I consider his poop my "secret" ingredient (shh don't tell anyone!). Rabbit manure is even higher in nitrogen than some poultry manures and it also contains a large amount of phosphorus--important for flower and fruit formation. ~Kat~