There are gardening books and great websites and university extensions that all have excellent information. Nope, none of them have 100% of everything. Pros do it by learning for years from many sources. And a lot of successes and fails of their own.

It starts with where are you. Different places have different soils and climates and growing conditions. What kind of gardening to you do- containers, raised bed, in ground, ect. What kind of soil are you using? What kinds of gardening methods to you prefer- this can range from dig a hole in the yard and drop in a nursery plant to starting seedlings... what kinds of nutes you want to use, do you want to buy or make them... how to make them if you do.

Sometimes plants have some general guidelines, like peppers. A lot of seed packets are around 6-8 weeks before last frost, but some can take up to 12 weeks before- depends on the variety. Even with a variety that says 6-8 weeks on the packet- one area might be closer to 6 weeks, another is closer to 8 weeks. There isn't a book that is going to cover every variety or all growing curcumstances. Some of that is learing your garden and how it grows.

Days to maturity is vey helpful information- it tells you how long it takes for the plant to go from transplant to able to produce fruits. Take tomatoes- a 55 day tomato starts to bear fruits early in the season, but a 85 day tomato starts to bear fruits almost a month later. This can make a huge difference if someone in a short season area can get tomatoes or not.

Fertilizer requirements depends a lot on the family and plant needs and what your soil has in it. Also can depend on what kinds of fertilizers you use, how you apply them and when.. even how much watering is going on.

If you are having difficulty finding garden harvest videos... try looking up garden harvest videos. Or try using the phrase how do I harvest X to find out how to harvest a particular vegetable. There's tons of youtube videos about harvesting.

A lot of gardeners sort of make their own books or notes of what works or not for them in their area. So, what vegetables do you want to grow, and where are you planning on growing them in what way? Then go from there.

I just wrote a post about my strange side-yard garden and how the plants aren't what they are suppose to be. It's an adventure and might introduce me to something new.

You don't say where you are and that would help other gardeners from your area be of help.

I find that the County Extension Service is the best for a lot of local advice. The rest is what your read from local sources or hear from those near you. When we first moved to this area I took a course offered by the local Master Gardeners and it was the greatest help.

I am a midwesterner and moved to California 27 years ago. I found that no rules apply - except for good gardening practices. All I thought I knew was out-the-door, and I had to relearn how to grow flowers and vegetables in a dry, hot climate. House plants were now garden plants, and globe eggplant don't produce as well as Japanese. There are deffinetly diffent growing cultures for different parts of this huge Country of ours.

Good luck finding good sources for your area.

Kate

"How do the professionals do it? I can't imagine they're just working off the back of a seed packet or random stuff from the internet."

Much of it is a basic understanding of gardening/horticulture, regardless of what one might be growing. And there is much to be said of practical experience......gardening is a constant learning experience. But we all started out somewhere and trial and error usually plays a big role :-)

Your best source of vegetable gardening info is going to be local and typically the county extension service offices (every county has one) have a wide range of handouts or publications (often available online to download) that should cover much of what you are looking for. You want planting data specific to your location as it will change from area to area. There may be other local gardening associations that have publications available as well. A local plant nursery or garden center should be able to direct you to these.

If you are new to gardening or vegetable gardening altogether, a basic how-to text could be helpful for more generalized info. Despite the unfortunate title, the Gardening for Dummies series is excellent and the GforD Vegetable Gardening should be very helpful.

You need to learn when to grow which vegetables in your climate, basically learn about the vegetable then apply that to your area.

Try a few books see what interests you, no book is perfect.for everything. Maybe look for older books at the library. Many books are so vague to almost be worthless, more like a casual coffee table book. Other books are so specific or gimmicky on one theme it is hard to apply to your garden.

I'll second or third the recommendation to go to your local extension. That's exactly what the professionals do. That's the first place they go to get their questions answered. That's the WHOLE PURPOSE of the extension services. To give smart advice that is appropriate to local growers. Random books and general websites have no idea about the particulars of your soil and growing environment, and the advice you get from them may be totally inappropriate to you. Yeah, they're telling me to water once a week. Ha! I'm down in Central Texas, and most of the general growing advice I read in such places is pitched to northerners who wouldn't have a clue about what to do with high temperatures or seriously alkaline soil.

I would also recommend getting a soil test. It'll cost you a few tens of bucks, but will be priceless if it reveals that you have some serious nutrient deficiency. Then again, if you tell the local extension service where you are, they will tell you what soil nutrient problems you're likely to be facing.

Nurseries can be good or bad, depending on who you talk to.

Who exactly is going to talk to for free from these "local extensions"? Wouldn't they be pissed off if random people bothered them?

"Wouldn't they be pissed off if random people bothered them?"

No!! The entire reason for being of the extension service offices is to answer questions and educate gardeners. Typically, the front desk and phones are manned by Master Gardeners as part of their volunteer requirements but there are often extension agents and plant pathologists onsite as well. Plus, any handouts or publications are available for the asking at each office.

Traditionally, a third of the budget for an ag extension comes from the federal government, a third from the state, and a third from country or local funding. We're talking YOUR tax dollars. So you think they might be pissed at you, like police and firemen and road crews are pissed at you? They work for YOU. By definition, the expertise provided by ag extension service is available to every resident in every county. Who is going to talk for free? At least their public outreach people, who will gladly forward your questions to higher ups if necessary.

Thanks so much for the advice everyone.  I'm going to spend more time learning what's available to me from the county extension.

By the way, I'm in Sunnyvale, CA.   And yeah, I feel like most US-oriented gardening websites are oriented to higher latitudes or wetter climates. Challenge number one is just getting transplants to survive transplant shock this time of year.

I found that keeping transplants in their pots in a cooler location during the summer works best, then plant them in their desired location in the fall. If I have small ones then I transplant them into a bigger pot to build a good root system... a good root system is what's important.

If you're talking veggies, then that's a different story.

And gardengal hit it on the head when she wrote about all the handouts from the Extension Service. I have a 2" thick binder full of directions on how to plant everything from figs to grapes to everything else. These were all new to me when moving to CA. ( OH! and how to can or cook or presevere it all.)

And remember, you are dealing with nature. However much you follow advice you cannot control the weather and wildlife. You can mitigate, but every year some things will do badly that did well last year. And vice versa.

Go check out https://smsf-mastergardeners.ucanr.edu/ . It includes an "Ask a Gardener" link for your county. There is a "Resources" tab that gives loads of instructional details, and there are links to a big library of gardening hints aimed precisely at you.

Just about every ag extension has this stuff.

No, stay away from generalized gardening books. I've never really understood their value in this day and age.

Another vote for local AG extension services. CA has some great Agricultural universities.

I know our local extension here is great, and more than happy to answer emails and other requests for info. They have many downloadable publications, and a very helpful vegetable gardening guide specifically for outr state. The county offices have on site demonstration gardens and workshops too.