SPRING:
Strawberry(everbearing)
Onion
Garlic
Tomato
Squash (especially zuchinni)
Melon
Cucumber

For a late fall harvest:
Strawberry (everbearing)
Beet
Garlic
Onion
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Squash/Pumpkin

I plan on using a trellis or similar system for vining plants. I will also be planting herbs- are there any heirloom varieties, especially basil?
I will be growing in partial shade, not much choice in my yard. But it gets very hot here, more so than the rest of WNC because we are kind of on the eastern border of WNC and basically out of the mountains, so that may be a good thing.

Are you looking for varieties that are North Carolina heirlooms? Heirlooms that will do well in NC? Or both? It could make a difference. My line of Little White Cukes, for instance, comes out of North Carolina. But I only grow them for historical reasons, as I don't think they have much taste.

Rather than naming varieites in your categories (there are so many of each) I'm going to make a couple of recomendations.

First, you should join one or more seed saving organizations. Contact with the group and it's members is the best way I know to quickly learn about heirlooms and how they'll do in your area. SSE (Seed Savers Exchange), out of Decorah, IA, is the largest such organization in the world, and through it's annual yearbook you can order varieties from other NC growers. Contact: www.seedsavers.org.

AHSC (Appalachian Heirloom Seed Conservancy), based in Richmond, KY, focuses on preserving heirlooms of the mountain south. There are several NC accessions in its collection, plus its members have others. Contact: KentuckySeeds@hotmail.com

Next, don't hesitate to ask questions of the specialty heirloom seed houses. I'm sure the folks at places like Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Tomato Growers Supply, and similar southern-based suppliers will be glad to make recommendations for you.

For learning about seed saving, you really should obtain a copy of "Seed To Seed." This is the bible of seed saving, and with it you'll learn how to maintain purity of each veggie type, and the mechanics of saving its seed.

There are numerous heirlooms-oriented events, and you might think about attending one or more of them. Baker Creek puts on two of them each year, one in the spring and the other in late summer.

Coming up in September, for the first time, will be an heirlooms fesitival at Monticello---an ideal location, if you ask me. Only the date--September 8--is firm so far. The plans call for seminars, display booths, seed swaps, and all sorts of harvest activities. You might keep that in mind, as Virginia isn't that far a drive from you.

The annual AHSC Fall Conference is slated for October 5-7, in Berea, Kentucky. As usual, the line-up of speakers, and the formal seed-swaps, make this one of the most meaningful events in the heirlooms world. The conference is open to non-members.

3 x 3, or even 4 x 4 is really a rather small bed that you will quickly outgrow.

Let me recommend that you build a larger bed; perhaps 3 or 4 by ten or 12. If you don't immediately use all of it, leave it fallow, with a cover crop of some sort. But I think you'll find that you _will_ need the larger bed, particularly with the diversity you're looking at.