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hello everyone! i haven't helped tend a garden since I was a child and then my parent's did a lot of the work themselves. we bought a house in the fall and decided to try a small vegie garden in the backyard. we started seeds throughout last month and last weekend. we have cherry tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, sunflowers, basil, parsley and chives. We will probably get a few more vegetables when the garden centers begin opening up. So we have several seedlings already! We are going to have to start from the very beginning with this garden! Can someone recommend a good book to get us started??

Wow you are going to have a great garden. In looking through my mom's gardening books, I like the ones by Jerry Baker. We also have Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. There are so many good books out there. If you can, try going to the library and/or bookstore. Just begin looking through them and see if one stirs your gardening enthusiasm. Is it easy to read, understand and does it have a lot of good advice and pictures?

Let us know how your garden is progressing. I am so anxious to hear of your success. Good luck and happy gardening. It's that time of year again to begin plants indoors.

Jeanette, welcome to the world of veggie gardening. There are lots of great books, but your best resource is your local feed and seed store owner. Now, I don't mean Home Depot - I mean a real farmer's feed and seed store. You may have to travel a bit - depending on how far into the city you live, but its worth it. He (or she) can tell you what the local pros are planting, and when to plant. They can suggest the right plants and seeds for the area. Also, be careful with a small garden. If your garden is too small, you spend more on building it then you get out of it. Here are a few "simple" living tips. Mulch with newspapers you collect from friends, then overlay with chopped leaves you rake from your, and your neighbors' yards. (Free) Contact local stables for cheap manure. (I pay $10 to have the stable owner load my truck with his tractor. If I shovel it myself, its FREE.) Find a wild bamboo patch. The canes make great stakes. (Free) Check local garbage collection stations for used fencing and other potential useful items. (Free) Ask the local tree trimmers to dump a load of ground trees near your garden. (usually FREE if they are working in the area.) Build a three sided compost bin from cement blocks. Add veggie matter, egg shells and coffee grounds. (Free) Save and collect plastic milk jugs. During drought, fill the jugs with water. Poke tiny holes in the cap and the bottom so that just a tiny dribble escapes. Place next to your tomato plants. Place a banana peel under each tomato plant when you plant it.

Square foot gardening might be a good book to use to get started. My mother thought Jim Crockett's Victory Garden was a gardening Bible. If you can find a copy somewhere, that might be useful also.

Are you going to compost this year?

Good luck.

You've received excellent recommendations. Square Foot Gardening changed the way I garden, since I have so little space. I wish everyone lived out here. The Sunset Western Garden Book is excellent. I wish there were comparable books for the south, midwest and east. Don't know what I'd do without it. However, it's more for ornamentals than for veggies. The ones which have been recommended to you are much better for that.

Hope you have started well and doing good with your garden. I have a question regarding sunflowers. what kind of herbicide do you use to get rid of weeds?