Very generally, hardiness zones are not a limiting factor in growing vegetables outside of the tropics and the arctic; I grow, for instance, all of the vegetables you've listed here in 2b in northern Alberta. I think what may be more of a problem for you is the lack of direct light that you get in your garden; most vegetables, aside from leafy crops, will not do well with less than six hours of direct sunshine a day. I don't understand, then, why you grow tomatoes with few problems and yet have trouble with lettuce. Are you suffering from pest or disease issues?

Hello.

I live in Oakville around Dundas and Bronte and I have been successful with many crops; various types of tomatoes, garlic, onions, lettuce, watermelon, acorn squash, peppers, peas, and basil. This year I am going to try a few new ones, like chives, parsley, melons, cucumbers, etc. I wasn't successful with eggplants, however, but I think that had to do with pollination.

I have about 6-8 hours of direct sunlight in my backyard, and my plants are all in raised bed. I found that rabbits ate my lettuce quite a bit in May, but once June came, rabbits had more to eat else where so left my lettuce alone. Since then my lettuce did really well.

Perhaps it's the amount of light you get in your backyard? Or watering?

I spent great deal of time with soil conditioning. I don't know much about ph level. I started with filling the reaised bed with black earth and compost bought from sobeys, and then covered them with black plastic bags for few days to warm them up. Throughout the season, I also used a bit of pureed eggshells (in a blender) and spent coffee beans and spead them over the soil during the season. And watered about once every two days.

That's about all I did last year. Hope this helps.