How I did it: I mainly used the internet for advice and instruction. Which was good and bad for me. I'd often go off on cool things like building a chicken coop, or raised beds and then I'd get the desire to just remodel my entire yard which realistically can't happen for me any time soon.
So, the internet was very informative but also very distracting and then that would turn into feeling overwhelmed and defeated sometimes.

I didn't give up, however.

I marked the size and shape of our garden with string and then began to dig.
I think I made my garden too big for a first garden, in hindsight. It took forever to dig but it was a fun family event to get out there every day and dig together.

Once it was dug I used graph paper to plot out our garden. Then sectioned off the paths and beds with string again.

My husband and children helped me plant the garden, much of which we stared from seeds in the garden itself not in little growing pots or anything.
The raccoons and squirrels and probably the crows ate most of our seeds...so we bought baby plants at our local nursery, and that is when I learned to start my plants inside the house in little grower boxes.
The raccoons ate the baby corn plants.
We battled little creatures the whole year with our corn.

I wished, once the garden was growing, that it looked nicer. I wished I was more of a natural gardener with skills to make it look more natural and stuff like that. But that's not me yet, maybe one day.

We ended up growing: Corn, peas, beans, an artichoke, purple broccoli, red cabbage, a few lettuces, carrots, potatoes, garlic, herbs in 2 old wine barrels, cucumbers, pumpkins...so lots.

I would suggest starting smaller if you are very new to gardening like I am. In fact when I do it again this year, it will be much much much smaller.

Our carrots never grew. Most everything else did. It was a lot of work but very satisfying to get our veggies from the backyard rather than the market.

Yay!

Good luck gardening.
I hope to continue.

Lessons & tips: If you are very new to gardening like me, start small. My garden overwhelmed me with it's size so I almost just wanted to quit.

Talk to your local nursery.

Use online resources.

Have small goals for your first garden and be very proud of yourself for even trying.
Digging the plot is a huge achievement, celebrate!
Celebrate every step.    

Enjoy the fruits of your labor and celebrate even minor level ups in your gardening skills.

Resources: This site really helped me: You Grow Girl

My local nursery helped so much, they answered all my questions and helped me with decisions.

I used my library for gardening books that were interesting to me.

Jan 06, 2011, 12:42PM PST | 0 comments | 7 cheers