I've read some on how to get started but would like a bit more guidance.

First of all, have you read our ‘New Gardeners’ page along with ALL the other pages it tells you to go to? Read everything on those pages because we have years of successes and failures of advice in those pages and you get to benefit from it all. Kind of like sharing your advice with your kids and hoping they will learn from your mistakes!

Zone 6 is not too late to start a garden, you are right on time. If you are starting a new plot that has grass or weeds be sure to take my advice in the ‘Kids Gardening’ section (Kid’s Vegetable Garden) about using newspapers to start a new plot. I also talk about using newspapers in the ‘Diane’s Tip of the Week’; ‘search’ or scroll down to find it. Whatever you do don’t just till the area under and hope you can keep up with the weeds, you will be sorry, especially as the hot summer wears on and the weeds are overtaking your vegetables.

Vegetables need plenty of sun so make sure you locate your garden where there is at least 6 hours of sun a day, more is even better. We have grown vegetables in 3-4 hours of sun a day but it is tricky and not for someone just starting out. Your soil needs to be loose loam and full of nutrients. You can get good soil analysis from your County Extension Office; look in the government section of your phone book. The tests aren’t that expensive and better than the little kits you buy in garden centers. If you have clay or sandy soil, write in a question about that specifically.

For next year get on some mailing lists for seed catalogs. Addresses and phone numbers are in the ‘Tip of the Week’ back at the beginning of the year. You don’t have to start your own plants next year but seed catalogs give plenty of information and help you know more about vegetables. But for starting out buy your plants all ready started from a good nursery, garden center or plant stand. Look for stocky healthy looking plants. Don’t feel sorry for little plants that haven’t been taken care of properly, start out with good stock.

Easy vegetables to grow: Tomatoes, cucumbers, bush green beans, peppers, summer and winter squash (winter squash needs lots of room, don’t grow if you don’t have extra room), lettuce, radish, onion sets, beets, spinach, zucchini and broccoli. Broccoli is easy but you need to keep up with the cabbage loopers with Bt. Write back to me if you want more information on Bt for plants in the Brassica family like broccoli. Gardens Alive sells an excellent Bt, I use it every summer.

Asparagus takes three years before you can harvest a crop, it isn’t the easiest to grow either. It isn’t actually hard but you need to follow the directions carefully. You can’t just plant it and wait; it takes tending to during those years.

Strawberries are easy also but don’t put them in your vegetable bed. They need their own area and special treatment depending on the variety you pick, June bearing, Everbearing, etc. You wont’ get a good size crop this year but it is worth the effort. Raspberries are easy but also take time to establish.

Try to make a point of reading everything on our web site and you will have plenty of information to have a good harvest. Maybe assign yourself to read so many pages a day or week. Organic Gardening Magazine is also a great source for information about gardening. If you get OG Mag, save your issues, you will need them in months and years down the road. I refer back to mine all the time. Been saving them for over 10 years. And I have stopped lending them out, missing a few issues and wish I could get them back.

Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing. I grow all kinds of things; perennials, annuals, berries, bushes, trees, fruit, etc. but my favorite is vegetables. Hope you enjoy it also.

Happy Gardening, Diane