Gardening Tips Needed

[Curly]

Spring is here!

I have decided that this is the year to start a vegetable garden. I am a complete and total beginner at gardening and I am in desperate need of some help.

Can anyone recommend books, websites, resources that might get me started?

Do you have any useful tips? How to get rid of slugs or attract bees? What plants are easy to grow and are good for beginners?

[Sweetpea]

Flowers will attract bees.

and the rest, I'd say, just start, remove weeds when needed, add some water when needed and look at it all grow!


One tip if you add things that will stay over the years (like bushes), put anti-rooting membrane underneath it. We have it underneath our strawberries, berries and raspberries. The advantage is not so much you won't have much problems with weeds, but it will also keep the soil moist during dry spells. Water will go down, but not up. And you always have a clean base around your plants (especially handy for strawberries)

[krisk]

http://http://www.motherearthnews.co..._Merch+3.21.09this is the best all around gardening information I can think of. What this site can't answer for you, it will provide further links that will help.

[justlizz]

A readers digest book on veggie gardening should help Also I dont know how far North you are as it might restrict certain plants
Another idea is to look at gardens near you, might give you an idea of what will grow in your area
lizz

[slayda]

And always remember, your neighbors will forgive you for having a "garden" with knee high weeds in it but will hate you if the grass in your lawn is knee high.

[Ervserver]

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/regional/

[Curly]

Thanks all.

The mother earth news website is fab -- I live in Scotland in an area with acidic soil (according to my soil tester kit!) so I figure potatoes will do well and the website has some useful information on growing potatoes and about last frost dates.

The membrane sound like a good idea as we are planning to plant strawberries. The last few summers have been very wet here so I'm actually more worried about too much rain especially if we do potatoes.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the neighbours garden is in a worse state than ours! I have started a few plants indoors as the growing season is quite short.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Curly

I have decided that this is the year to start a vegetable garden. I am a complete and total beginner at gardening and I am in desperate need of some help....
Do you have any useful tips?

Yep. 'Don't' - lie down in a darkened room until the urge goes away.

Alternatively the BBC Grow Your Own site may be worth perusing. Good luck!

[Curly]

Great websites -- I've got them bookmarked. Something tells me that sitting with a cup of coffee perusing websites is much easier than having to go out and fork compost into my garden!

[UncleDuke]

there is no such thing as a weed, just growing things that you did not plant, a rose in a tulip bed would be considered a weed by most people, i go for a natural look and never weed, all i have are two pots on the deck, not much of a garden, not much of a deck

[BookishDreamer]

Originally Posted by UncleDuke

there is no such thing as a weed, just growing things that you did not plant, a rose in a tulip bed would be considered a weed by most people, i go for a natural look and never weed, all i have are two pots on the deck, not much of a garden, not much of a deck

I like your philosophy, UncleDuke. And I'll see your "two pots on the deck" and raise you five pots on a balcony. I usually don't have to worry about weeds, but I've learned not to keep plant that are attractive to nesting wrens, such as large Boston ferns pots. These days I stick with


Curly, don't forget to prepare for the output of your garden. Do you plan to keep your plot small or try to grow enough for canning and freezing? I spent most of my childhood summers (and winters because Dad never did anything small) in the garden or in the kitchen helping blanch, chop, and package veggies. Oh, the hours I spent shelling butterbeans or cutting corn off the cob. It's a good deal of work, but worth it. Fresh, lightly blanched sweet corn....best thing EVER!

Dreamer

[fugazied]

My grandmother told me egg shells were could for getting rid of the snails (or was it moths?)..

[Curly]

Originally Posted by BookishDreamer

I like your philosophy, UncleDuke. And I'll see your "two pots on the deck" and raise you five pots on a balcony. I usually don't have to worry about weeds, but I've learned not to keep plant that are attractive to nesting wrens, such as large Boston ferns pots. These days I stick with


Curly, don't forget to prepare for the output of your garden. Do you plan to keep your plot small or try to grow enough for canning and freezing? I spent most of my childhood summers (and winters because Dad never did anything small) in the garden or in the kitchen helping blanch, chop, and package veggies. Oh, the hours I spent shelling butterbeans or cutting corn off the cob. It's a good deal of work, but worth it. Fresh, lightly blanched sweet corn....best thing EVER!

Dreamer

Good point! What am I going to with it all?!

I'm just starting with a small plot and putting in a few plants of a variety of different vegetables to see what grows and what doesn't. Hopefully enough will grow for eating right away. If it goes well, will expand next year.

Ah, corn on the cob! I grew up in Illinois and nothing beats fresh corn and tomatoes on a summer's evening. European supermarket corn just isn't the same as good homegrown Illinois corn.

[krisk]

How did you end up in Scotland?

[BookishDreamer]

Originally Posted by Curly

Good point! What am I going to with it all?!

We canned tomatoes and pickles. The rest of the produce (corn, bell pepper, squash, zucchini, okra, bean and peas, brussel sprouts, turnip, mustard greens, peanuts, pecans, blueberries) was frozen. To me, freezing is easier, especially if you have the space. When you decide on packaging, think about serving sizes (and the size of your cooking pots). We used pint plastic containers for most things. One container usually served 2 people, depending on the contents.

Have you visited the local greenhouse or farmer's market? You can probably get some good hints about the local growing season.

Dreamer