Seed Starting without electricity

Typically, we would be preparing to start seeds for the next growing season after the New Year.  I'm in Massachusetts, Zone 5b/6a (depending on which map).  This year, I can't afford the steep increase in KWh.  We would wind up paying $1000/mo or more to keep the lights and heat mats on.  Additionally, I have zero funds to invest on a whole new system.  If I'm going to start seeds, it has to be with what I have which is shelves and seed trays.  The space I'm in is an old milkhouse with one small window and it is FRIGID come February.

I DO have a 22'x96 unheated high tunnel about 1/4 mile from the farmhouse that is mine.  I also have a wee little greenhouse 12'x32' that is heated but on electricity, too.  I can't afford to turn that on.

I'm about to lose an entire season if I can't figure this out.

Thanks heaps for your suggestions!

Back in Florida and California, it was a standard practice to use smudge pots to protect fruit harvest so maybe something like this would work for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smudge_pot

Here are some threads for you or other folks:

https://permies.com/t/159308/Late-Frost-Protection#1402505

https://permies.com/t/171640/RMH-orchard-idea

https://permies.com/t/171640/RMH-orchard-idea

https://permies.com/t/93293/Fruit-trees-surviving-winter-zone#764081

I assume most of that $1,000 is for the heating pads rather than the lights. Is there any place you can move your seed starting operation that is already relatively warm? As an example, I start seeds in my furnace room without the use of heating pads since it already is quite warm and is an otherwise unused space in the house. After things get too big for the furnace room, I move them to my insulated, but unheated, garage to grow until conditions allow them to be planted outdoors.

back in the day, we used warmth that was already in the house.  On top of the fridge, on top of the hot water tank, that sort of thing.  

For lighting, we waited until later in the spring so that the window light would be enough.  Since then I've experimented with different seeding times and find that there's no advantage to the harvest to start a month early inside.  Often the harvest is later with the earlier starts because they either get rootbound or they need repotting which can set them back.  

And most seeds that people start inside today seem to grow better outside.  Squash, leafy greens, beans, and peas, all seem to get set back by starting inside and transplanting outside compared to direct seeding.      We generally only start seeds indoors that are pushing our local zone like some hot peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

What do you actually need to start inside?  

John Wolfram wrote:I assume most of that $1,000 is for the heating pads rather than the lights. Is there any place you can move your seed starting operation that is already relatively warm? As an example, I start seeds in my furnace room without the use of heating pads since it already is quite warm and is an otherwise unused space in the house. After things get too big for the furnace room, I move them to my insulated, but unheated, garage to grow until conditions allow them to be planted outdoors.

I think you're right about the heat mats.  I don't have this amount of space anywhere warmer.  As I mentioned, we have the little greenhouse and the high tunnel which are delicious when the sun is up.  However, not enough daylight hours until 15 February and super cold overnight.  Maybe I need to start a little bit later and figure out how to keep things some warmer in there overnight without a huge outlay...

r ranson wrote:We generally only start seeds indoors that are pushing our local zone like some hot peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

What do you actually need to start inside?  

Same.  But we have a 1.5 acre market garden to start for and that's a lot of plants. . <insert long boring story about how the pandemic killed our business and we need to restart from zero>

One possible solution may be to share space with other local growers, thus sharing the cost.  Not terribly convenient for those who have to commute to their seedlings, but might make it all possible for all of us.  

Just in case that can't work this time around, keep those ideas coming.  

Anne Miller wrote:Back in Florida and California, it was a standard practice to use smudge pots to protect fruit harvest so maybe something like this would work for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smudge_pot

. Not sure how to do that quickly and easily for enclosed spaces, but it's worth some brainstorming!  Certainly, I'm going to have to plan a longer term solution because I don't see this getting any better or easier in coming seasons.

I'm in a climate a bit warmer than you but not by much. What crops are you growing that need started in February?

How about using some form of compost heat system (don't know the correct term in English, but the technique where you use heat from decomposing horse dung or such) to replace the heat mats? I believe that's what they used to have before heat mats were a thing...

I used to start all sorts of stuff way too early, and then the seedlings would get all lanky and need potting up, and then they would transplant shock a lot more. Nowadays I start everything in stages over March/April to go in the ground between May 1st and June 1st, and everything fruits just the same as if I had started it in January/February. It makes for way easier management in the greenhouse, it frees up space for more variety of plants, and I avoid having huge rootbound plants growing out of tiny little 72-cell seed flats.

Maybe don't view it as "losing an entire season" because that season wasn't really there to begin with, and that by waiting you are working with the seasons rather than against them. I know it's easy to be raring to go right off the bat early in the year, but I think it's better to just wait until it's warm enough out to make do with your unheated greenhouse, or some cold frames or row-covers outside. That's what I do in 4b/5a and I'm still able to grow plenty of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and other frost-intolerant veggies. IMO starting stuff early isn't worth it because it's too cold and there isn't enough light, and with the money wasted on light and heat you could buy something that lasts like a garden tool, books, etc.

Something like these are what I had in mind:


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Hi Nissa,
I'm not entirely sure what scale you are talking about. Here in Maine (even colder than Mass) most people only start onions that early. Most things are started later. However, this is just to have that veggie. If you want to get it early as a business, you may need to start things earlier.

I second the comments to bring it inside. You can fit a lot of seedlings on a $25 shelf from amazon, and if it is as important as you say, then dealing with the inconvenience for a few months may not be too big a deal.

If electricity is not an option, you might do  some research on hot frames. They similar to cold frames, except they would dig down maybe a foot or two, add 2/3 or 3/4 of fresh manure and bedding, then cover the last bit with soil. The manure would compost and produce heat that would radiate up into the roots and allow the plants to grow better and earlier. Some people may not realize that keeping the roots warm is more important than keeping the leaves warm. There are many plants that cannot survive freezing temperatures can survive fine in 20F air, if the soil where their roots are is 50F.

You might check into some of Eliot Coleman's books and work. Specifically with row covers in his 4 Season Harvest book.

Lastly, I don't want to be the depressing person, but you may just need to wait to put things in, or do a smaller amount, and find some other way to make up the difference in your farm. I hope you can find a way, and there are many good suggestions already, but I also want to be a realist, and Mass gets pretty cold just like Maine.

Everyone's needs are going to be unique.  All I can do is share what I found works for us.

When seeds are small, they need the most heat and the least space.  One thing my great grandfather did was to put the seeds close together and at night put them under the bed (no indoor heating so it was the warmest spot).  As  the plants grew their first true leaf, he would prick them out from being 20-50 seedlings per inch, to about 1 seedling per inch.  At this stage, they didn't need as much heat, so they could stay near the window and get the heat and light from the sun.  To keep them warm, he was careful to add extra quilts to the window at night (double pain windows didn't exist yet and even still, seedlings can get a chill from windows early in their life).  If it was exceptionally cold, they would heat a few bricks on the stove and put these among the seedlings.  When the plants had two more leaves, he would prick them out again and start hardening them off in a cold frame to be ready for planting out.  In this way he could do about 4 acres worth of tomato plants as well as his other seedlings in their small cottage.  

He was careful to time it so the seedlings wouldn't be in the house more than a month before it was time to plant them out.  

These days, a lot of farmers here will save space by germinating in paper towel in a ziplock bag and then plant out once the seeds make their first true leaf.  

Living with my Grandfather, he started his tomatoes as early as possible (Christmas) so I often did a challenge with him.   I would start my tomatoes in March or April.  We would see who got the first fruit.  I always won by about a month.  Same variety, same care more or less (I didn't fertilize as much because I'm frugal).  Because mine were later, I didn't use a heat mat or light, but I was careful to close the window blinds in the evening to prevent a chill.

The most we've planted on the farm is an acre.  That year, we started the seeds in small plug trays and stacked them with a bit of wood between each layer on top of the fridge and the water heater.  Since it's only a month until the plants go outside, we take over the main part of the house and every window gets a table full of plants once the germination takes.  They need light more than warmth at that stage so room temp is fine.  

But we also learned that year that most of these things we are supposedly needing to plant indoors don't do any better than direct seeding.  I started reading Carol Deppe's books about that time, so we did some experiments where we do things the "traditional - aka, modern" way, we do things the way my grandfather did, and we did some the lazy way.  Then observe the results.  The modern recommendations had much poorer results than the other two.  I was surprised how well winter squash faired against the frost when they are young and we can direct seed most varieties 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost date.

As I said, every situation is different.  So it's worth trying a few different ways to see which gives you the results you want with the resources you have.

Matt McSpadden wrote:
I second the comments to bring it inside. You can fit a lot of seedlings on a $25 shelf from amazon, and if it is as important as you say, then dealing with the inconvenience for a few months may not be too big a deal.

Not sure that this helps, but when I needed to create a lot of seedlings for a breeding project, I made a grow tower in my unheated basement from two shelving units.  Each level held 6 flats of 37 seedlings x 5 layers for 1110 seedlings.  I hung metalized plastic survival blankets around it to help it maintain the warmth from the lights and it did very well for me.  Cost a bit for the set up, but I figured that the waste heat from this set up at least was happening at a time I need to heat my home anyway.  

Now a days I have an unheated sunroom that I use.  Between the coolness and me occasionally running my hands over the plants, they don't seem to get significantly lanky on me.  I put the flats in warm spots in my house to aid germination and check them frequently.  As soon as they start germinating it's out into the cool sunroom with them for their sunbathing start off.

Nissa Gadbois wrote:

r ranson wrote:We generally only start seeds indoors that are pushing our local zone like some hot peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

What do you actually need to start inside?  

Same.  But we have a 1.5 acre market garden to start for and that's a lot of plants. . <insert long boring story about how the pandemic killed our business and we need to restart from zero>

From what I read in an earlier post is that you live in a tiny house (milkhouse) with only one window.

I hope I read this correctly.

Wanting to start a market garden early in Massachusetts, Zone 5b/6a without the benefit of electricity does pose some problems.

This situation might work for what will grow in your location in the winter.  Onions, garlic, etc. maybe I don't know.

If I were in your situation I would have to wait until spring to start a market garden.  I feel it can be done in the spring.

I feel it can be done in early spring a little before the last frost date if a person can be prepared for the consequences.

Best wishes for your market garden next spring.

I'd suggest you consider building a huge hot frame using free pallets to contain manure inside a hoop house. If you use 10 pallets in an 80"X120 inch bed you can contain the manure at 2, 3 or more feet in height. By sliding slats thru and across the pallets you can support your seed starting trays at any height above the top surface of the manure. You'd need some 2X4's to hold the pallets together and add "shrink wrap" to contain the manure. A cover over the top would help contain the heat on colder nights.

I've found I can start seeds on April 15 in my cold frame instead of starting seeds on March 15 and they are 12 inches tall by May 15; 2 or 3 times taller.

Anne Miller wrote:Something like these are what I had in mind:

Ah cool.  Like miniature masonry heaters!

No, the milkhouse is my growing room space.  I live in a regular farmhouse.  But there is NO room in here for growing things.  We've been doing this for 10 years.  If we want to be able to serve the community, we have to start early and have produce early.  Whenever we've started late, we lose out.  And we need to make an income on the farm, if only to cover the expense of maintaining it.

This isn't like a backyard garden for our own needs.  For that, no problem.  I could start seed on a much smaller scale indoors and still have lovely tomatoes and peppers, etc.

Greg Martin wrote:

Matt McSpadden wrote:
I second the comments to bring it inside. You can fit a lot of seedlings on a $25 shelf from amazon, and if it is as important as you say, then dealing with the inconvenience for a few months may not be too big a deal.

Not sure that this helps, but when I needed to create a lot of seedlings for a breeding project, I made a grow tower in my unheated basement from two shelving units.  Each level held 6 flats of 37 seedlings x 5 layers for 1110 seedlings.  I hung metalized plastic survival blankets around it to help it maintain the warmth from the lights and it did very well for me.  Cost a bit for the set up, but I figured that the waste heat from this set up at least was happening at a time I need to heat my home anyway.  

Now a days I have an unheated sunroom that I use.  Between the coolness and me occasionally running my hands over the plants, they don't seem to get significantly lanky on me.  I put the flats in warm spots in my house to aid germination and check them frequently.  As soon as they start germinating it's out into the cool sunroom with them for their sunbathing start off.

.

I have four of these in the milkhouse.  Unfortunately, it's the only place that I have room for this.  I don't even have room for one inside the people house right now.  That's where it's getting me.  It's an amazing set up, just very expensive to operate under current conditions.  I'm thinking I can reduce the lighting and heating portion of the bill by moving them down to the little greenhouse.  Then maaaaaybe, the little masonry clay pot heaters could work overnight when it's cold.  Can't eliminate, but likely reduce it to an affordable level?

 

John Indaburgh wrote:I'd suggest you consider building a huge hot frame using free pallets to contain manure inside a hoop house. If you use 10 pallets in an 80"X120 inch bed you can contain the manure at 2, 3 or more feet in height. By sliding slats thru and across the pallets you can support your seed starting trays at any height above the top surface of the manure. You'd need some 2X4's to hold the pallets together and add "shrink wrap" to contain the manure. A cover over the top would help contain the heat on colder nights.

I've found I can start seeds on April 15 in my cold frame instead of starting seeds on March 15 and they are 12 inches tall by May 15; 2 or 3 times taller.

This sounds like a good solution for next season.  I don't know where I'd be able to get that quantity of manure, how I'd pay for it, how I'd get it transported up to the high tunnel...  Those are all limiting factors as well.  But something to strive for next winter.  Love it!

Nissa, I understand about market gardens.

One of our members had a very successful market garden and I loved to read about how she got her produce into the local grocery stores and then life happened.

Sorry I misunderstood about your growing conditions.

Nissa - Horse boarding facilities usually have lots of manure they need to get rid of. You can find them by ,[42.335545594484174,-72.35501346240234],null,googling. They don;t very often do any agriculture; so don't have a use for the manure. They give it away to anyone who will haul it. Some of them will load your truck; also for free. Try to find a source that has hay or nothing used for bedding. These days most are using wood chips or wood shavings for bedding; which will give you the least heat.

Hauling is a problem if you don't have a pickup truck. Finding someone with a dump truck for rent isn't easy, probably easier if you hire the truck with a driver which would be prohibitively expensive and only possible if your manure source will load it for you. You can possibly find free pallets at a storage facility. If there's any laying around they are usually free.

Some other ideas are fire wood; which would require a chimney, stove, and lots of labor plus an interruption of sleep.. Also I knew a fellow near here that hauled free used motor oil from garages all year and used it to heat his commercial green house every season.

I wish you luck not losing the coming season.

edit the link...... No luck!

We were discussing melting snow for watering house plants over on this thread: https://permies.com/t/207312/Free-Heat-Septic-Tank
I suggested that it might be cool to put some sort of a simple cold frame over top of the Septic tank lid and use the escaping heat from there to support plants. It might not be enough for germination, but it might free up space when the plants get bigger and just need a little protection from cold snaps.

Eino Kenttä wrote:How about using some form of compost heat system (don't know the correct term in English, but the technique where you use heat from decomposing horse dung or such) to replace the heat mats? I believe that's what they used to have before heat mats were a thing...

I know this as a "hotbed". I'm sure there are other names too.

Matt McSpadden wrote:If electricity is not an option, you might do  some research on hot frames. They similar to cold frames, except they would dig down maybe a foot or two, add 2/3 or 3/4 of fresh manure and bedding, then cover the last bit with soil. The manure would compost and produce heat that would radiate up into the roots and allow the plants to grow better and earlier. Some people may not realize that keeping the roots warm is more important than keeping the leaves warm. There are many plants that cannot survive freezing temperatures can survive fine in 20F air, if the soil where their roots are is 50F.

I've usually heard of hotbeds being made above ground, either inside a greenhouse or even outside, for hardier crops. A frame is built from planks of wood, blocks or brick and the space is filled with ~6" or more of fresh manure. Composted (old) manure won't produce enough heat to work well. Seedlings are then elevated up a little from the manure and benefit from the heat.

I've found an image from a Charles Dowding tweet. He seems to have used egg cartons to raise up the seedling trays. The hotbed is the structure on the left.

My goats have a deep bedding system, pretty common in cold climates.  Also called a manure pack.   Clean straw goes down on the floor.  When it’s not clean enough to sit down on, add more straw.  Continue the process all winter.  A board across the doorway about 9-12 inches high keeps the bedding from getting trailed out and spread all over.  A compost thermometer measures the temperature down in the bedding at  90-100 F.

This year I started with wood chips, then straw on top, because we had some very cold nights, and the chips make a hard surface.  I thought they would appreciate fluffy straw they could burrow into.

So, I am thinking maybe you don’t need to avoid any manure with bedding material in it.  And maybe you could integrate this knowledge into your plan.  I think a big part of what makes the system work is the urine, both for the nitrogen and the moisture.  I have noticed that after the does kid, and all the amniotic fluid and so on gets added to the bedding, and neatly covered with fresh clean bedding, the temperature rises.

And if you do try any form of hot bed or composting manure, if the material isn’t moist enough, or you suspect it doesn’t have enough nitrogen, try adding urine to it instead of water.

We built a large compost pile against the back wall of our seed house and ran a coiled pipe through it. The heat of decomp gets up to around 50 deg. C in the pile and both wall and pipe get pretty warm. The pipe then goes through the seed house wall and vents warm air into the seed house. It helps raise the temp inside the seed house by around 5 deg. C.

here's what works very well for me, for most types of seeds.

1) soak for 48 hrs
2) put seeds in a pot with poor soil
3) put pot in my vehicle
4) park vehicle where it will get full sun thru windows

i find cars heat up quicker than greenhouses in the sun

I don't have a suggestion for this year, but what has been working good for us is a rocket mass heater.
I installed one in our hoop house a couple of years ago and now we start our seeds in there the first of April.   We live in zone 3 so
not too much goes into the garden before the 1st of June. Even then we have lost some gardens because of a late frost in June. The heater mass is about 28 feet long and 2 feet wide. I put about a 2 foot tall shelf on top of that to drape some plastic over. At night we put some old sleeping bags over the top to retain the heat. After the initial warm up I'll usually fire it up for 1 1/2 hours each night.
This systm has replaced many lights and shelves that used to be in our garage.

I understand your predicament though I've never attemptedto grow on that scale.   The only feasible thing to me would be building hotbeds and/or a compost bed to provide bottom warmth however I think I'd prefer a hotbed.  While it may be difficult to find horse manure, maybe look at other manure available to you.  The might not give off as much heat but still may save your plants.

Once plants overrun my indoor setup they are transferred to the tiny greenhouse outside.  On cold nights I throw every old insulated blanket I can find over that house and turn on a small space heater inside.  That works for me but if I were growing plants on top of a hotbed with no additional heat, I'd probably try to build a smaller enclosure over the top to keep in the heat during the night.  I've also experimented with putting jugs of hot water amongst my plants to provide some additional heat on frosty nights.

If electric use will continue to be an issue, I'd definitely look into something such as a rocket mass heater.  

Please keep us updated.

Maybe this could be a "the problem is the solution" situation.

Instead of trying to get a jump on warm season crops along with other "traditional" market garden expectations, it's an opportunity to offer some earlier/ perennial/ unusual offerings that sets your market garden apart from others?    That will depend on your clientele and expectations somewhat, but I can't help but think there is an opportunity in this in a good way.   Less input,  more interesting product, introducing more variety and versatility.  

I'm in your zone and have never started anything using electricity, but I'm not working on a large scale either; only home use.   Can you grow/overwinter super early crops in your greenhouse so you are providing them for sale when everyone else is starting seeds?  One of my earliest spring harvests is sochan and I start craving it and looking forward to late winter lol.   It's so nice.  

Heather Staas wrote:Maybe this could be a "the problem is the solution" situation.

Instead of trying to get a jump on warm season crops along with other "traditional" market garden expectations, it's an opportunity to offer some earlier/ perennial/ unusual offerings that sets your market garden apart from others?    That will depend on your clientele and expectations somewhat, but I can't help but think there is an opportunity in this in a good way.   Less input,  more interesting product, introducing more variety and versatility.  

I'm in your zone and have never started anything using electricity, but I'm not working on a large scale either; only home use.   Can you grow/overwinter super early crops in your greenhouse so you are providing them for sale when everyone else is starting seeds?  One of my earliest spring harvests is sochan and I start craving it and looking forward to late winter lol.   It's so nice.  

Everyone has offered some great suggestions.  I especially like the cold frames and the hotbeds, I am thinking old windows would work.

I really like the perennial suggestion and also the idea of selling transplants.

Our local grocery store was offering transplants by "Chef John" who I assumed was some local guy.  

Would you be able to use a heating pad. I have done this before. I don't believe it uses much energy and may only need to use for a few hours a day in a sunny window with maybe a plastic top over it. You would need to water daily with a good spot of spraying.

r ranson wrote:
Often the harvest is later with the earlier starts because they either get rootbound or they need repotting which can set them back.  

And most seeds that people start inside today seem to grow better outside.

Anecdotal for sure, but one year I started melons inside. They did pretty well.

The next year's volunteers, though! So strong and they sprouted in early May, way before I would have been "allowed" to set them outside.

In essence, I could have winter sown them!

It boils down to your budget. A kwh costs about $0.27 a heat mat uses about half a kwh a day. How much can you afford to pay to have the soil at 75 degrees and then keep the frost off the leaves? You could double greenhouse build a poly tunnel inside your regular tunnel and put your heat mat on insulation and flats on top of that this reduces the amount of heat energy to keep them warm. Watering them then becomes an issue. You can only scale from zero to hero based on your budget otherwise you end up borrowing money to keep the homestead afloat. (typical farm practice across America) If you use electricity to generate income its part of your expenses and should come off your profits before you start paying the tax man on the income you generate from selling produce. plan ahead for next year with a war chest for how much electricity your going to need to pay for going forward.
Do you have livestock? Many farms in Europe lived in the same building as their livestock in winter due to the heat generated. I've often opened the old style barns with three cows and been met with 70 degree air. However that was in Ireland and doesn't have the same arctic chill you guys experience.

I live in a section of Upstate NY where the growing zone comes down from the north and makes for challenges.  Crops that are supposed to grow can be challenged.  One thing I use is to take a couple of gallon jugs and fill them with water and place each one on the north side of plants set out in the garden.  A bit of floating row cover and they hold generally well.  The jugs also provide a counter to heat waves and can be used for manure tea or just water when punctured.  Make sure to puncture low and high to provide air to replace water lost and prevent the jug collapsing.  Squash just love this system.

Water is the best heat source since it not only holds a lot of energy, but before water at 0 degrees C can turn into ice at 0 degrees C, it will give up 80 calories of heat per gram (cc).  Above that, it is a clear one degree per cc for each degree C.  For additional heat, you might want to try a wool hen.  This has been used to protect newly hatched chicks when mama is not available.  Take wool strips and hang them over the seedlings.  As wool absorbs moisture, it releases heat, so that is a plus.

The composting heat source works well, horse manure is very good at putting out heat.  Placing jugs of water here and there will allow the jugs to heat while maintaining a more even heat level.  Like animals, plants tend to be more resilient if kept at a more even level of heat.  Wide swings should be avoided.  If you have any chickens or rabbits, it may be possible to make a sleeping hutch beneath the seedlings and the heat rises from the small livestock to reduce potential for freezing damage.  They also provide manure to compost for the real cold days.

Desmond Sharpe wrote:It boils down to your budget. A kwh costs about $0.27 a heat mat uses about half a kwh a day.

Well, the OP is in Europe. Recent events have spiked the the cost of electricity by a ridiculous margin. Hence the problem, and the need for an unconventional approach. Many people in other places simply can't view their endeavours as a conventional business that is separate from the rest of their life.

I like what you said about animals generating heat. Yes, they do, even in cold climates! Potentially very useful if it can be put to work in this situation.

Wow!
The responses this post have received are incredible!
As I was reading through them, my mind was thinking of ideas I would suggest. Using compost to heat, great idea. Paul Wheaton did an interview with a guy that used woofers to help with farm work, the guy had a compost pile that they buried plastic coils in. They actually had to add cold water to keep from being scalded.

Someone mentioned using a cold frame inside your greenhouse, there's a guy in the Chicago area that gets greens all year long because he says each layer of cold frame is like moving his growing zone south one level.
https://youtu.be/Dd-FOj7cuLc
Someone mentioned winter sown. I plan on doing this, if you haven't seen this, each container is like a mini greenhouse. There's a bunch of YouTube videos on it, they literally put the seeded containers in snowbanks.

https://youtu.be/SKXY6dl-5Tk
There's also the progenitor of the practice that has a Facebook group, search for "Winter sown".
I love the hot frame idea.
Just find people with horses, they will give there manure away.
Heating a small greenhouse, some kid posted a YouTube video recently of a vegetable oil heater, that heats his two bedroom shed for $5/week. In the one video of his it shows the outside temperature at -11 fahrenheit and 70+ inside. The comments section of the video is a goldmine of great suggestions.

Rocket Mass Heater, using 1/10th the wood of conventional wood stoves, free wood for the taking if you pay attention to local storms, the tree services that keep power line rightaways clear. They would be a good source for the green and twig part of compost piles, which makes for great soil.
Oil drip heaters, go watch some YouTube videos, those things put out a ton of heat from waste oil.
I'll be back to attach a video or two.

As others have mentioned hotbeds are a good solution - some seedlings only need to heat to sprout, not once they are up (start indoors), others need heat and obviously light once up - use hotbed. Here are a couple of videos - one of Charles Dowdings hot bed which is in a pic further up the thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhPh4sYCW5Q

Another is this one about hotbeds used by French market gardeners.

youtube video

I would like to try the hotbed with the cold frame on top as I don't have a greenhouse.

Maybe consider the winter sowing method? Lots of info online and a Facebook group that includes the creator of the method. https://extension.psu.edu/starting-seeds-in-winter