That's the climate/growing season I grew up in. June 10 was our average last frost date. Now I am about 2 weeks earlier/later but still use some of the same techniques.
Everything I grow I pick out for 'short growing season'. If I am in the store or in a catalogue, looking at varieties, the first thing I do is see which have the shortest days to maturity.
I plant out about 1/3 of my cold sensitive plants about 2 weeks before official average last frost date (if forecast is clear), then, on last frost day, I check the forecast again. I either plant all my remaining tomato/pepper starts then, or another 1/3, and another 1/3 in a week or two if the weather seems questionable. I start some squash/melons in large pots on the porch about a week or two before official last frost. They can easily be brought inside if necessary and it gives me a tiny headstart. The rest I start from seed a week or so after official last frost, I find them more sensitive than tomato's.
I start
enough starts that even losing half isn't a big deal, and I can find homes for any extras easily.
We keep sheets and blankets and table clothes and plastic totes around to cover large swaths of plants to keep them warm, checking the forecast each night before bed. Cloches are too finicky for my taste - I forget to take them off and tend to fry plants.
Some plants can handle frost - onions, brassicas, carrots, potatoes (somewhat) and don't need cover. I tend to group frost sensitive plants together so it is fast to cover them.
Last year and this year I have been experimenting with what things can be planted early. Our last frost here isn't until May 24th or 30th... I planted onions yesterday and carrot seeds and peas. I will plant more in 3-4 weeks, and will probably plant lettuce soon. Seeds are cheap. I also planted daikon radishes in the fall last year and they did wonderfully even long after frost. Cabbages stayed good for weeks after fall frost. My garlic is up already. Last year I learned to presoak corn seed and bean seed to make it germinate faster, even in soil that is not warm enough.
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