Good resources for a beginning gardener?

[MrsAxilla]

This will be my first garden - yay!  Where do I start?  I need basic info, like where in my yard to put it, what kind of soil I have and need, what to plant and when, etc.

I want to start with the produce we buy the most - lettuce, peppers, onions, tomatoes, strawberries, etc.

Thanks!

[2curlydogs]

I think most state university extensions will do soil testing for cheap - about $15-20. That would be my recommendation for figuring that out.

For beginning vegetable gardening... a lot of people like Square Foot Gardening. My particular method was just to buy started plants of what we ate from a local greenhouse and plant them. But then I bought some books like "Rodale's Organic Gardening".

Seed catalogs can be really helpful on the "what to plant and when". But it will all be relative to what zone you're in because everything is typically dated from the last frost date (either before or after). So I would really recommend talking to local gardeners near you. Again, your state university extension office can be a big help here.

[NitaX]

Check your local garden extension website. Our AG extension has a great web resource guide for home gardeners - what type of varieties work best for the area, which bugs are prevalent, when to plant, etc.

I love Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening book because it has a handy guide of when to plant certain items. I also use the Univ of Illinois Extension's Vegetable Directory urbanext.illinois.edu/veggies/directory.cfm
I don't live in Illinois but love the info on this website. It's a great resource.