Recommend me some financial sites.

Can anyone recommend good sites and books for beginner gardeners?

• When I say "beginning" I really mean "dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to plants and their care". I do have a herb garden because I cook with fresh herbs daily, but my gardening service tends that for me and I just pick the stuff I need for the meal I'm cooking. I want to learn to do this stuff effectively by myself though. I tried some tomato plants last year that I bought as seedlings, but I got a gopher who promptly ate their roots. By the time I convinced Squint (what I named the gopher) to go away and find new tasty gardens to eat, the tomato plants were beyond saving. This year I want to try again, but I'm going to go all-out and start with seeds rather than seedlings, and I want to plant more than one type of plant. 1. Can you recommend any good sites, preferably with an active forum, that will hold my little virtual hand through the entire gardening process? I really do know next to nothing other than dirt+seeds+water = stuff grows. Theoretically, at least. 2. What are some good, easy plants for a beginner gardener? I'm going for a vegetable garden. I have the herb garden and several flower bed, but those are all cared for by my gardening service. I want something I can point to and proudly say "Look what I managed not to kill" and that will also give my household fresh veggies (we'll eat almost anything here, so anything goes as far as that's concerned) 3. What kind of supplies and/or tools that may not be obvious do you recommend I have? I already have bought the so-dorky-it's-cool giant hat to keep the sun off of me and some little hand trowels and a little hand claw/rake. I *think* I have a pair of gardening gloves, but will buy new ones anyway so they match my hat. Anything else? Oh, the area I have to work with used to have a storage shed on it and is trapezoid shaped. It is bordered on the North side by my house, the South side by a tall, wooden fence and there's a dry sauna and a spa on the East side. It's about 10 feet at it's widest, 8 feet at the narrow end and there's about 6 feet between the fence and the walkway next to my house. It does get good sunlight most of the day. I'm pretty sure that information is important. Thank you so much for any help/suggestions you can give me! ☺

• Answer:

  Some sites you may find of some help: BBC Gardening, and Better Homes and Gardens. I do consults with fledgling gardeners all the time and the biggest problem that I can see that people make, is to go too big too soon. It can also be a mistake to completely plant out a garden with limited plant knowledge and then discover many other plants you would now prefer to have instead at a later date. Do your homework, go to open gardens, nurseries, parks and garden centres. Write down names of plants you like and Research on the net. Be careful to read the required requirements of the plants. Sometimes plants are sold because they are commercial (lots of flowers) in your area but may not grow in your area. Remember even seasoned gardeners loose plants to heatwaves, lack of water and insect and animal damage. Just go with the flow and expect some plants to die, even if you have a 'green thumb'. Ask neighbours or people who have gardens you admire what they are growing and how, people love to give advice, and you may even get seedlings of plants given to you. If the soil is hard and dry bring in lots of animal manures (cow,etc) ,you can buy this bagged and dig in well. if the manure is fresh let it age a big to take the 'burn' out of it (it can kill plants if too fresh). Buy a cheap soil test kit (from most garden centre) and know what type of soil you have - acid or alkaline. Do you have clay or sandy soil. How much water is available to the plants (hose or rainfall). What climate area do you live in. These are the only things you need to know to get you started. Enjoy the journey!