korafox

I'm seriously trying to get on top of the idea of starting a garden, since I have a nice-sized backyard that gets a lot of sun and it seems like a prudent idea to have my own veggie source going forward this year. The whole thing is super intimidating though--the internet has lots of advice but it is complicated and there are umpteen million choices to make.

Really what I want is someone to just tell me "buy things A, B, C then do things X, Y, Z" and then there are tomatoes. Or bell peppers. Or I don't even know, just the choice of what to grow is daunting. Worrying about soil acidity is a several-years-from-now problem.

Probably the first step is get seeds and maybe some soil because our soil is crap? (Not really; it would be better if it were literal crap, I think. It's shot through with rocks and very thin sandy dirt in the backyard.)

On the plus side, I already have my very own trowel! : D
And a lot of bricks from the stupid landscaping in my front yard that I was going to remove and could turn into edging for garden beds...raised beds? I don't even know.

Advice for a 100% beginner is welcome. I live in Illinois, USA in what the internet tells me is hardiness zone 5b.

On our way back into town from visiting the in-laws this weekend, we stopped by the garden store and picked out some plants for the front yard. It turned out to be really fortuitous timing, as there was a massive Memorial Day weekend sale. Combined with a coupon, I got a lilac shrubling for eighteen dollars. At regular price it was going for fifty. I hemmed and hawed a bit about where to plant it, but ended up putting it on the left side of our driveway. I would have liked it closer to my studio window, but I may very well put in more of them if this one works out.

That's a very big "if", since I seem to have something of a black thumb. I really need to stick to hardy plants because I have no idea what I'm doing--about the only thing I've been able to grow on my own is catgrass and catnip, so far. We also got daylilies and a couple of what I believe are Asiatic lilies (they were not very well-marked, but the blooms will be very beautiful if I don't kill them).

I am very happy to have a lilac on my property, even if it may be a while before it is a proper shrub. They have a lot of personal meaning to me, and it is an appropriate time in my life to have one as a reminder of that.