[cblue55]

Could you recommend a place to start educating myself (books, web sites, etc.) about vegetable gardening? I have never done this, and do not necessarily have a green thumb, but with empty nest coming soon, I would like to get into this more. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Red_Devil 232]

First thing to decide is if you will be doing an in ground garden, raised bed (square foot gardening) or containers. There are plenty of good books dedicated to each type of garden.

Second thing is to come and visit and ask your questions on this thread. It is posted every Friday morning and don’t forget to revisit it throughout the week as more FReepers post. There are 489 FReepers on the ping list for this thread and I am sure one or two or more will have answers or advice to help you out! We have Master Gardeners and very experienced gardeners along with those just starting out who visit the thread regularly.

The thread is usually slow this time of year but really heats up (pun intended) as Spring nears.

[greeneyes]

Free educational site @ www.squarefootgardening.org for one type of gardening. I started with just one square foot bed next to my patio. It was so easy, I just had to do more. LOL.

[Mrs. Don-o]

LOL! Here's 52,000 results on Google for (Click here) Beginner Vegetable Gardening!

My best short advice for right now:

• The time to start is always NOW.
• Cardinal rule of gardening: You are ALWAYS building soil. Start a compost pile. Beginner Compost (Link)!!
• Easy way to start: in a back, out-of-the-way corner, start collecting as huge a pile of dry leaves as you can get your hands on NOW. Rake and save all your leaves. Steal them from your neighbors.---:^O
• Mark with stakes the four corners of area where you want your garden.
• Start small. One 4'x8' bed is grand, especially if you're doing Square Foot Gardening (Google that),which I recommend. Put it in the sunniest spot you have---hopefully not shaded by house or trees, but close enough so you can water it easily.
• Cover the staked-out area with at least 6-ply layer of newspapers. That'll start the process of killing the grass or weeds. Then cover the newspaper layer with cardboard, to keep them from blowing away.
• Ask your neighbors who have vegetables, what varieties they grow. They will help you a lot. Gardeners are like that.
• Decide to grow things you actually eat: things you would actually choose at the salad bar.
• "It's all an experiment." Enjoy!

[tubebender]

The least expensive thing to do is to go to your local Library and check out the most rented vegetable garden books...

[mrsmith]

Welcome! This was my first year gardening.
Start small and learn as you go at first. With easy crops you don’t need to know much at all.
I love lettuce and onions and they are practically foolproof so my first year was a great experience.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Oh, another thing:

Do think of doing 3 seasons of gardening in the same space. In other words, you can have a Spring garden, a Summer garden, and a Fall garden, one after another. Some veggies like cooler weather (Spring and Fall) and others thrive in the heat of summer. Typical choices:

Spring: These are somewhat cold-tolerant: beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, collards, garlic, kale, lettuce, mustard, onions, parsley, spinach and turnips.

Summer: These really like the summer heat: beans, corn, cucumbers, eggplants, melons, okra, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes.

Fall: Do the Spring garden all over again.

Do plant herbs, too. They are pleasant, fragrant, simple, and take up very little space. Try just a couple plants seach of rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme. Chives and garlic are *so* easy to grow. Mint is easy--- almost TOO easy. If you don't use a firm hand, it will run up and down, sneak under fences and invade neighboring territory.

And by all means, plant basil. Tuck it right in among your tomatoes. They love each other! :o)

[tdscpa]

http://www.gardenweb.com/

[95B30]

Welcome to the start of a life time of pleasure. I started with Rodale (sp) books 20+ years ago. Fed a family of five by gardening, canning and storage and hunting with a monthly trip to a grocery store.