Check into winter gardening on this site--it seems made for you and what you want.

check out wintersowing forum thats how I started all my veggies worked great for me no hardening off...but a warning it is extremely addictive...Tomva

Welcome back to gardening! I don't have quite the seed-starting experience others around here do, but I am in your neck of the woods (Sonoma County) and was in your similar situation this year. Here's what I learned after my first time out:

Of all the plants I started from seed indoors, in the end, most of them I could direct seed outside when the weather was right, and they did better in the long run not getting transplanted. With such mild weather here, I tend to think the indoor seed starting is more for people in colder climates or those who have shorter growing seasons and need to get a head-start. We don't. Cucumbers, squash, beans, peas can all be started right in your beds after the last frost date (which is about 4/15 here).

Next year, the only plants I'll be starting indoors are tomatoes and peppers. I plan to start both around mid-February. I germinate the seeds in my house since germination requires heat and not light. Once they sprout, I've got a shelf with fluorescent lights that I'll put them on, giving them about 16 hours of light a day.

When they get too big for the shelf, I have a mini greenhouse even smaller than the 4X4 you're talking about. It's just a 4-high shelf covered with plastic with a zipper front. I picked it up at the garden center for about $40. I put the plants out there during the day and bring them in at night if the temps are expected to get low.

Like I said, I've only got one season of seed starting under my belt, so my experience is a little new. There is a seed starting forum on this website you should definitely check out. It's got a wealth of information and the people there helped me a lot.

Good luck!

If winter sowing or direct seeding will work for you for some things you want to grow, I'd do that. It's always easiest to rely on natural sunlight, soil, and fresh air.

If you do want to start some things indoors, it's easy to attach a fluorescent grow light under a shelf. You don't need a special stand, just the light, a plant tray with humidity dome, and some cell packs or dixie cups. I've found Indoor Gardening Supplies to be a good source of the gear. Or you could rig up an inexpensive fluorescent shop light.

You have to time your starts so that by the time the seedlings are about 6 weeks old, they can be transplanted outside. If they outgrow the lights or their pots, and it's still too cold to plant, it's not good. Seed packages and catalogs will usually say when to sow indoors and out, relative to the last frost.

Indoors, seedlings need pretty much what you think: fresh air, cool nights, humidity, regular watering. A few tips: Plant into moist, not wet, seed-starting mix (it should be the consistency of a wrung-out sponge). While waiting for the seeds to sprout, remove the dome for an hour a day to air out the flats, and mist them if the surface starts to dry. After they sprout, remove the dome, and always keep the light as close as possible to the plants. Half an inch is not too close, and at more than two inches, the seedlings will stretch.

It's very cool to see the little green seed leaves appear over the soil a few days after sowing in the plant flats. The bright green is such a contrast to the drab seed mix (and the outdoor weather). Start simply with a couple of trays, which will take up a 1' Ã 4' shelf. It is addictive.

Oh, one other thought: If you have a guest bedroom that's seldom used, you can rig up lights under the bed, and put the seed trays under those. (Call it your "seed bed.") Or you could set up the lights under your own bed, finding another home for your bedroom slippers for a couple of months. The lights are on a timer, so they won't disturb your sleep. But (cough, cough) I don't know anyone crazed enough to do that.

In my zone, our last frost date can be as early as mid March. Our first frost date is in mid November. That gives us nearly 8 months for growing summer vegetables. I do have a good light set up in my basement, and I do start lots of seedlings every year (up to 20 flats per season).

All that being said, this year I waited until early April to start my tomatoes. I sowed the seed in black plastic containers, left them outside on the deck, uncovered, and watered them every couple of days. Once or twice, I brought them inside the house for a night due to the threat of a light frost. Otherwise, they were outdoors.

I will never do it any other way again. The plants grew so much faster and were so much stronger for getting the early spring sunshine and breezes! I don't think I started picking fruit more than two weeks later than everybody else around here who started their seeds indoors.

A month after I started my first seeds, I sowed a second crop in pots outside again. My first crop is just about pooped now, but the second crop is loaded with fruit and should produce till frost, or very nearly so.

Additionally, I read recently that tomatoes that are started later when soil temps and air temps are warmer are less suceptible to early blight. My second crop's foliage is definitely cleaner than the first.

I would assume your growing season is at least as long as mine. If so, I wouldn't fool with lights that are never really bright enough, and the leggy, weak little stems that inevitably result.

I start seeds indoors on top of the water heater. It's usually around 60-70 there. No light, greenhouse, or anything fancy. I use the wet paper towel method to start, then move them to small leftover seedling pots (cleaned). As soon as the seedlings pop up, I move them to my kitchen window, then outdoors. As to the details of each step, like others mentioned, you can find a lot of information on the other forums.

The biggest disadvantages of this is the number of seedlings I can start is limited.

Although I am not familiar with your particular climate I would imagine that in CA you can garden all year round. I shall be sowing favas, peas, radicchio, Chinese cabbage and winter lettuces soon. The favas can be sown as late as November in my climate. I would also imagine you might be able to do turnips, radishes, beets, carrots etc but I am sure someone else in your area will be able to give you more ideas for a winter garden. You could probably plant out winter greens such as brussels sprouts, broccolli, kale etc too. So you don't even need to await the spring to get gardening.