growing in Calgary

SO we are learning a lot about growing plants in Calgary, especially produce. Actaully, that is all I am really interested in. I could care less about flowers. I'll put some out, but I don't really care what is what. Anyways, we tried green peppers this year. A couple times. Preston even bought a heat lamp and no luck. We were aware that they like a lot of heat and sunlight and we didn't get much here until the end of June. Even then, we have been below seasonal so not enough heat for peppers. Tomatos we love and had great success in Kitchener the year before but here we again don't get enough heat and humidity. We don't have a green house so we grew them in the front window where the sun shines and that seemed to help. I also covered some of them in plastic in the beginning stages to keep in the moisture. Anyways, my issue with planting them is it often tells you to put 4 or 5 seeds in and them after they have grown a few inches, to keep the two strongest and pull of the others. I know this is a very different situation, but what if Kate plus 8 found out she was pregnant with 6 babies and the doctors said 'ok, we are going to terminate 4 of them so pick the two strongest" I know they are only tomatoes, but look at my picture. If I had done what they told me, I wouldn't have that cute little tomato today. It was loved and nurtured and it still grew and though it wont be a lawyer or a doctor, it was still able to produce a cute little tomato:)
So, we also planted corn and onions and I learned a tip. Soak the seeds for 24 hours and themn plant - gives them a good head start. I didn't do that with the corn and it is not growing because we put it out in the field and left it hoping it would grow without watering it. We see our peas, beans and potatos and carrots growing and look forward to the harvest!