I'm also rather a novice to gardening, but I suppose I can give you some tips that have helped me out. :)

Hmm... I suppose we could start with the soil. Your plants are going to vary when it comes to what soil you'll need, but in general you'd like your soil to be healthy, dark, pretty moist, and loose. Starting a compost is a good first step, although you could start now and simply use potting soil for your current (well, to-be) plants.

FYI, a compost is simply a scrap pile of veggie bits or rotten vegetables that you can't use- it can also include crushed tree leaves, straw, and other things, but I mostly just use recycled vegies. You want to get a good, secure bin to place them all in outside someplace, and a small bin for your kitchen when you cook.

Anyway. Personally, I think a good start is to begin with potted plants/herbs/vegetables as opposed to planting them in the ground, as, say, a basil plant on your patio will get less predators than anything on the ground might.

Good first plants (in my opinion) are often herbs, and flowers. Basil (especially of the Mini Greek Basil variety, which I highly recommend, it's extremely easy to grow and care for) is a good start, as is sage, and summer savory (which likes to migrate from pot to pot). Mint is also a good first choice, as it's hardy in its nature and sends out 'runners' along the ground (don't plant anything else in the same pot with mint!).

One thing that's ridiculously easy to grow in the ground is flaxseed- which you don't usually see talked about because you do not reap much from what you sow with this plant. However, the flowers are lovely. Pick a small square anywhere in the yard for your flax (which you can buy in small or large packages in most stores especially health food stores), and simply sprinkle it in copious quantities all over. Within a day or two you'll begin to see sprouts shooting up. Flaxseed flowers into beautiufl little purple flowers, and later in the year (about mid to late summer), you can take lightly golden, unopened flower buds, pluck them off, and expose two to seven little flax seeds inside.

If I were to tell you everything there is to know with gardening (or even what I know), I could never stop, so I'll just end it here. :) lol There's plenty more, I'm sure others will chip in. Good luck! And don't expect to do perfectly on your first try- this is my third or fourth year and I'm still making plenty of mistakes. ;)

Starting a garden is a bit like building a house. You need to do a lot of research as to plans, building materials, etc, then find the perfect block of land, then do some digging and preparation, lay out your plumbing, then start building, and when all that hassle is over, then you begin interior decorating.

With a garden, you'll need to look at the sun first of all. Find out where the shady bits and the lighter bits are, and plan your garden accordingly. Start your compost heap ASAP so you have plenty by the time you're ready to dig. (Alternatively, buy some compost and have it delivered in a truck!)

Lay out your garden bed(s), remembering that what looks large while you're digging will look tiny once full-grown plants are in it. Get rid of any weeds etc, dig in plenty of compost, test the pH (aim for a reading of 7.00), adjust if necessary (your garden centre can help with pH testing kits and advice on adjusting it). I suggest you aim for a raised garden - even raised a few hand-spans is good for drainage purposes. Remember that digging aerates the soil and it will sink back as it settles, so keep adding garden soil, compost etc until you have quite a hill inside the boundaries of the beds.

When you're not digging, you'll need to be reading garden books. Make a list of plants you like, then find out whether they'll grow in your area. Then as often as you can, visit local nurseries, touch, look, smell, ask LOTS of questions. How big does it grow, will it handle full sun, will it handle frost, will the roots try to lift my house off its foundations, will it grow with these other plants, does it die down in winter and then come back in spring, or just die? How far does it spread, does it readily self-seed, does it like constantly moist soil, or fairly dry? Will this one cross-pollinate with that one? Are they potentially an environmental thug? And lots more that you're already bursting to know.

You really can't generalise with plants. There are 20000 known HERBS alone on the planet, without all the ornamentals and their cultivars. There are at least 600 mints, just as one example!

Make notes as you go. Then take several walks around the neighbourhood, taking notes of what you see growing there. Knock on doors and ask the occupants questions, if they are willing to help. You'll learn a heck of a lot that way, and you'll probably get armfuls of cuttings as you go! Gardeners are a generous lot, as a rule.

OK. You'll got reams and reams of notes, and hundreds of plants in mind. Now make a short-list, and go from there. When you have some idea of what you want to grow, then we can be of more help to you, remembering that this is a HERBS forum. You can get information on other plants in other GW forums, too.

I do suggest starting small. Select, say, half a dozen herbs (if that's what you want), and see how you go with them before expanding both your garden and your collection. You can learn a lot by reading, searching the WWW etc, but nothing beats experience. You'll inevitably make mistakes. Even the best gardeners will make mistakes - put plants where the plant isn't happy, and have to move it etc. A garden is NEVER static, but a constantly changing world.

I also suggest that to begin with you buy seedlings or more advanced plants. Growing from seed can be rewarding, but also very frustrating for a beginner.

I think also, since winter is coming to your part of the world, you do your research now, over winter, and then you'll be ready for planting in spring. If your winters are very mild, you can always start the preparation and digging in winter.

Of course, you can always give your plants a head-start by putting them in pots over winter. In a mild climate, they'll do OK, although they'll probably be dormant; in a cold climate, they'll need special care indoors or in a hothouse.

When asking questions about plants, it really helps to know the climate they're going to be in. The idea is to simulate the growing conditions of their original habitat - desert? mountain tops? Tropics? or whatever. If it snows where you live, you'll be battling to keep your tropical plants alive! And ditto, if you live in a desert and want to grow rainforest plants.

So - off with you to the library! (or on a tour of this forum through the Search facility, or around the internet).

I used to coordinate an organic community garden. Part of my job was to teach folks how to compost.

When making compost, there are several rules of thumb. Fats, oil, and proteinsshould not be put into compost. The only protein I use in composting is some hair, dog or human.

Rinse out all egg shells. Do not add anything to your compost, which has been cooked. Avocado is fatty, so should not be used. Do not use meat scraps. The acids from citrus can kill beneficial bacteria, so many folks avoid putting citrus into their compost bins. Do use coffee grounds and tea leaves. Two thirds dead materials, such as fallen leaves, to one third fresh/green materials should create a rich compost with high nitrogen content. Cut larger items into segments of twelve inches or less to speed up decomposition. Woody stems take a long time to decompose. Either cut them to small size, or do not use them.

Decomposing plant materials create bacteria. That is desireable in creating compost. Mold is not desireable. Compost should be turned with some regularity to aerate and for the purpose of mixing everything. There have been cases of people developing respiratory problems from breathing in mold spores when turning their compost. Even though I take steps to prevent mold in my compost, I still take precautions. Personally, I hold my breath, when I turn my compost. A pitchfork is a good tool to use for turning the compost over.

As the plant materials decompose, they create heat. Ideally, the heat should kill any mold spores. It is possible for a compost pile to self-combust, therefore, compost piles should never be kept near a wooden fence or a building. Compost should be kept moist(not wet) to aid decomposition. If you are doing a good job of creating your compost, earth worms will move in. That is good, as the presence of earth worms enhances compost.

I use a large hard plastic compost bin for my compost. I originally built a large wire cage. But my dogs were constantly raiding my compost, so I purchased a closed container. (I had to fence off my produce garden, too. The dogs kept stealing my melons and corn.)

BTW, raised beds should not be wider than twice the length of your arm's reach. That way you can reach halfway across your raised beds from either side, which should enable you to easily reach any part of the raised bed. You don't want to have to be walking through your raised bed to reach your produce.

I think every gardener in the world has learned a great deal by trial and error. Errors are okay, we learn from them!

I agree, errors are ok! I like to tell people that gardening is one of the places where you get an endless supply of second chances. Unlike your workplace or other places of stress in our modern lives, the garden allows for and expects you to try again. No pressure, no recrimination, no getting fired over mistakes or things you didn't know. Your mistakes make you wiser and a better gardener. Where else are you going to find a deal like this?

For new gardeners, the key is starting small. As you learn, your garden will grow and grow in size as well. But keeping it manageable and small in the beginning is key.

FataMorgana

Thanks for all the advice everyone. It's still early but I think things are going well so far. Now all I have to do is keep the cats and bunnys away! Thanks again. I couldn't have started without your help.

Chicken wire about 1 1/2 ft tall will keep out the bunnys. They will dig under but most will not hop over.

I did see a wise old mother rabbit lay on the fencing until the wire was flat enough for her to walk over. Dummy me I thought she was just sunning herself.

You can buy taller chicken wire and arrange it such that some is laying on the ground or dug under the ground. I just lay it on the ground and put logs on top. That way the bunnies, or my dogs, cannot dig under it. The part laying on the ground should be inside of your garden. Beans, peas and other vines can be trained to grow on the wire.