I decided I'm going to start a garden- any pointers?

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

I know almost nil about gardening, and any tips would be greatly appreciated!

[AKLulu]

I'm about to start my first garden too! I used to help my mom a bit, but I don't know a lot. I'd recommend talking to people at a local nursery and see if they have any good tips. If you know what kind of things you want to plant (potatoes, greens, tomatoes, etc), you should pay attention to how much sun and water they need and plan your garden according. Also, if you're familiar with Pinterest, they have a some good tips and tricks... well... you could probably find lots of things on the internet Oh, it might also be good to look up a planting schedule to see when you should plant certain things in your area. I know that's all very general, but it's the best I can do. Good luck!

[Hammlin]

I'm doing this too! My friend and I are co-oping our grown goods. Her family farms so she's really horticulturally wise... She has us starting everything in the little indoor pods and then we are going to move them in to tubs outside (Colorado where we live is pretty much clay instead of dirt) so we have to create good soil.

I know there's a website somewhere where you can check out what growing zone you're in, and I believe that will show you which seeds are best...

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

I found a planting schedule that helped me out alot, but all the gardening help websites i found so far have such high vocabulary that it seems like only people that work full time gardening would understand, haha.

I bought seeds for herbs and veggies and I think I'm going to do the same thing, start them indoors then move them outdoors, altho i have terrible luck with moving plants, im crossing my fingers! I'll probably keep the herbs inside though.

[AKLulu]

Make sure you don't transplant when it's hot out... and that they have plenty of water.

[Elastigirl]

I loved thee book Square Foot Gardening. It told me what to plant,when and how. Just basic instructions. I hope you have fun, I love gardening

[oystergirl]

I am with Elastigirl--the square foot garden is THE garden to grow. My sister in law, last year,while pregnant designed and built 6 square foot gardens in her back yard and was thrilled with the results...me, always the nerd, found an old wooden book case, cracked out the back, buried it in the yard and filled the 6 slots with soil and fertilizer. I STILL have turnip greens and collards coming up! Smaller is better especially if you are new to it, and raised bed gardening is so much easier than traditional gardening. Best of luck!

[Ryan Sannar]

Use your hands, not gloves, unless your mixing in manure.

[DustMite]

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/

^The plant hardiness/growing zones map. The map is also in "Gardening for Dummies", which is how I was introduced to gardening. I'm not ashamed!

I second AKLulu about talking to people in a plant nursery. They've been pretty helpful for me

[morethanjustamom]

Square Foot Gardening and Month by Month Gardening in (insert state name) are good resources.

You may also have a local agricultural extension office near you. They are a goldmine of free information.

[jswbach]

I love gardening! Have done both the big backyard garden and also container and pots, if you have specific questions. Half the fun is trial and error, and checking out all the great gardening books out there. Also consider how much time you have and want to put into it. Just be sure that the plants you put in are well suited for the location, which requires some observation ahead of time how much sun, wind, etc. that spot gets.

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

I STILL have turnip greens and collards coming up! Smaller is better especially if you are new to it, and raised bed gardening is so much easier than traditional gardening. Best of luck!

Oh my lordy that is such a good idea! I guarantee I'll drive by free bookcase-ish stuff within the next week, so maybe I'll take that idea! That was always a problem with my mom's gardens, too many weeds!

And the book you guys offered- I will definitely look into it! I was looking for a book but I honestly had no idea where to start! Thanks so much for all of the help

[Corbab]

I'll second the raised-bed tip; they're 1,000 times easier to get started, and you have a fair amount of control over soil quality, etc. Learn a little bit about what you're planting (even a quick wikipedia read will do) so you know what kind of care your plants need. Get a compost pile going -- put in equal parts "green" material (fresh plant castoffs, kitchen scraps) and "brown" material (dry leaves/grass clippings). Most of all, get dirty, have fun, and enjoy your delicious food!

[katscratch]

Hi

Square Foot Gardening and Lasagna Gardening are my two fave books that i STILL reference, tons of good ideas and info for newbies!!

Herbs don't need to be transplanted and lots of veggies really don't depending on your growing season - here in Minnesota the veggies that need lots of hot days (like tomatoes and peppers) do need to be started indoors. Starting from seed is way cheaper, but my first few years I bought transplants at a garden store because it was easier and they were definitely alive

Good luck, I started growing things just for kicks and now I really love it, planning and working and eating FRESH veggies

[morri]

Make sure you label your herbs, especially if you have two of the same variety! We planted mint and catmint in the same set of herb boxes and then couldn't tell them apart.

Don't plant a tomato plant in a pot, no matter how large it seems.

If your compost pile never seems to cook, you might want to try vermicomposting. It really works best with small amounts of green organic material and food scraps, but it always works.

Try to find an independent garden center. They usually have more knowledgeable employees and are very willing to help.

[Georges]

You might want to check your library for books by Eliot Coleman. A lot of the things he has borrowed from others, adapted, or figured out by trial and error are pretty awesome and applicable to smaller scale growing. He specializes in year-round produce (further north than Mass.) and getting the most food out of small spaces (with the least hassle). One warning: if you like Four Season Harvest as much as I did, you end up spending money for your own copy

[So Late So Soon]

I'm not much of a gardener but I do help with my parents garden once and a while. The only real advice i have is to make sure you get gook chicken wire and fence off your garden, my parents didn't fence there's off the first time and about 80% of there plants got ate by rabbits/deer

[Julie2385]

I've been growing my own garden for years! We just started germinating seeds for this years garden. The most important thing is to research what does well in your area and start your seeds/plants at the right time. I'm in Austin, TX and it gets warm here early and we get a ton of sun in our backyard, so I like to plant things that do really well in heat and full sun. For example: squash, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, bell peppers, etc. You also want to look into whether you want to put your plants in containers or in the ground. If you decide to do container gardening, do not put the plants in plastic pots if it gets hot in your area . . . you will cook the roots. Since its hot here, I fenced off an area of my back yard (with rabbit wire - bunnies like to eat our food) then tilled the area as well as added fresh, nutrient rich dirt to the existing dirt. Once the plants are well established seedlings and the weather will stay above freezing, they go outside in the dirt. Then you just water as needed and watch em' grow and eat em'

Happy gardening!

[CapN_Tommy_Sunshine]

I will jump on the bandwagon of recommending Square Foot Gardening. Raised beds are so much easier, and this book really makes it simple. I have had a garden the last few years, although last year's was a bit of a dud. It was too wet at the beginning of the season, and then got really hot (and then stupid life events happened to me so I pretty much neglected any surviving plants). Definitely looking forward to this season. Not sure what I am planting, but I know that baby bok choi, and a wide variety of lettuces are going to be in it.

[rumtiger]

I started gardening about five years ago and love it!!! I usually buy my seeds online, because you can get a lot of variety over what is typically in the stores locally; many of the seed websites have great information about gardening. I'm in Colorado and start tomatoes and peppers seeds indoors each February and transplant outside in May. Raised beds are great with filling with some quality soil. Herbs are easy to start with, but watch out because they can get out of control - last year I had cilantro and spearmint popping up all over my back yard. I've had great success, but have to give credit to my husband who grew up on a farm

[llsoszynski@gmail.com]

Make sure you label your herbs, especially if you have two of the same variety! We planted mint and catmint in the same set of herb boxes and then couldn't tell them apart.

Hahahah, this is probably the best advice!! Thank you, totally something I wouldn''t have done!

I fenced off an area of my back yard (with rabbit wire - bunnies like to eat our food) then tilled the area as well as added fresh, nutrient rich dirt to the existing dirt.

Thanks Julie for the awesome advice as well. We have alot of rabbits around here and I wouldn't have thought of fencing it off until it was too late.

Everyone else, thank you! I am going to take all of your advice, and probably will start the indoor plants very soon, and hope the weather stays above freezing! (Yesterday it snowed 2 inches and today was like 65 degrees... oh, new englandddd!)