I'm a little puzzled though - if you bought pre-started annual vegetables from a nursery, that should have already given you the head start needed for them. Were the seedlings unusually tiny when you got them? Are they planted in full sun? Have you had a really cold season wherever you are? Just wondering, as the advantage to buying seedlings is to save yourself the effort of starting them early indoors...

I would second Lori's advice on the light setup and starting tomatoes, peppers and cukes on your own. There are things you can do in your garden to help them along, too. We've used black plastic for years for the bed that has those heat-loving veggies in it. It warms the soil (as well as prevents weeds, which is a plus), and you can get your plants in a little early. Cloches and wall-'o'-waters would help all those plants as well. What i do instead is put tomato cages over the plants and put a clear garbage bag over the cage. It can be rolled up during the day and let down during the cooler evenings.

Of course, that gives them a bit of a start, but this time of year is a different story. If an early frost threatens, you can cover your tender vegetables - we use tarps - or get up early and water them as the sun is coming up. It's kind of a pain, but it usually happens that if you have a few cool nights, milder weather follows, and then your fruits have few more days or weeks to live in the sun and ripen on their own.

I see you mentioned that your tomatoes are blooming now (just scrolled back). That might be a problem for sure! Next year, plant tomatoes that have a shorter time from setting out to harvest - Early Girl, Siberian, etc. That's where starting your own seeds is an advantage. You get to choose varieties that suit your own area.

Good luck!