Cabbage, lettuce and broccoli will stand light frost. Tomatoes and peppers are frost tender. Plan to transplant to the garden on a cool, cloudy day. Plants will not suffer many setbacks in growth during transplanting if they are moved with a block of moist soil around their roots. Shade plants with shingles to help newly set transplants get a better start, especially if planted on a hot day.
Set transplants a little deeper than they grew in seedbed.
The home gardener wishing to harvest fresh vegetables earlier in the spring and later into the fall can use cold frames or hotbeds for this purpose. The height of your structure will limit the vegetables you choose to plant. Sow seeds in rows spaced 6 to 8 inches apart. Seeding depth should follow recommendations on the seed package. After seeding, tamp down soil firmly, water gently, so that the small seeds are not washed out, cover and leave until the seedlings break though the soil.