first time gardening?

If you are a novice gardener, like the enthusiastic young woman I met at Big Lots today,  let me give you some beginner's suggestions.

1.  Perennials come back every year,   annuals must be replanted.

2.  Some crops like colder weather, and can be started here in the next few weeks outside:
 
      Potatoes, radishes,  cauliflower,  cabbage, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, peas,beets
    
3. If the back of the package says start indoors before frost, you can do that, or wait until after last frost,  ours in central Indiana is usually April 15,  and plant.  I usually wait on tomatoes until middle of May, just because they really don't like cold weather.  I have put them in earlier, but made sure to cover them up on cold nights. 

4.  These plants like to be warm, so wait to plant:


         Pumpkins, squash, zucchini, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, peppers. corn, beans

5. You can start seeds indoors, and put out during the day if it's warm.  Seeds like to have bottom heat, so starting them on top of the refridgerator is a good place.  Or, buy a germination pad, they're not cheap, but I have used mine for years.  Cover seeds with plastic, or put a top on the container, to keep in the warmth.  Once they are up,  put them outside in direct sunlight for the greater part of the day,  they get "leggy"  if they don't get enough sunlight.  Keep soil hydrated, but not soggy, or the seed will rot.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/556/  I am shamelessly borrowing from "davesgarden.com"  a great resource for gardening. 

6.  Get your compost heap started now.  You will use it all the time, you can find all different ways to do this. Some towns don't allow them, but if you plant some tall things around it, who's to know?  Find a source for manure,  and like I said in another post, there are composting materials out there, be bold and ask your neighbors, friends, and strangers for anything they want to get rid of.   Never add meat, fat, or any animal product to it.   Sure way to get critters, and they don't really decompose well.

I highly suggest you spend some time reading up on gardening, or bugging your neighbor who gardens.

Organic Gardening Magazine  is great,  see if you can find some at the library sale, or the used bookstore. 

I have returned again and again to
    The Garden Primer , by Barbara Damrosch.  This book helped me a lot when I first started.   Good basic information on planting, care, and harvesting.  She also gives lots of information on different varieties of each plant.

52 Weekend Garden Projects  by Nancy Bubel  has fun things to build or make for the garden, or interesting ways to plant things.

 Square Foot Gardening  by Mel Bartholomew    This has a new edition out.  I recommend either.

The Victory Garden  on PBS stations is great for watching someone gardening, and giving tips. 

Go Native and Got Shade?  by Carolyn Harstad, are two great books about gardening with native plants and in the shade for the Midwest.  I learned a lot about what NOT to plant from these.

Now,   go read something on gardening,  I mean it, right now...

Dianne, dirt and all