There is a very active Winter Sowing forum here on GW that should help you out with all your questions. Most larger garden centers will have seed starting soil available (very fine textured with good drainage) or you can make your own. Just ask your questions and you'll get many responses.

I just don't have the patience or the space to do any seed growing myself plus I have this instant gratification thing going on that pretty much restricts me to plants that are already well on their way........:-)

Here is a link that might be useful: GW Winter Sowing forum

The climate in all zone 6's are not the same. A zone's designation is determined by the average low temperature over a long time period. Example: the climate of zone 6 in the high desert is radically different than the zone 6 in Kentucky so keep that in mind when you are asking questions. Just for your (everyone's) edification.