Vermicomposting Here's a link with a lot of information on vermicomposting. You need to get your 'home' started now, before you add the worms so they'll have something to come home to and eat, etc. So give it a few weeks. If you live near a lake or fishing community, you can get red wigglers from a bait shop to save on ordering online. Which composter did he get you? We just built one from rubbermaid storage boxes, but I drool over a couple of the hotels I've seen online.
You can easily make your own compost bin for regular compost from heavy duty chicken or cow wire, pallet frames, buckets or just a pile. Though
this one is on my wishlist LOL
The All New Sq. Ft. Gardening book is a great tool to have, but there are tons of resources online you can do when you google it. It's usually available at any library - (most probably carry the older edition of Sq. Ft. Gardening) This is the guy who is the 'guru' of Sq. Ft. Gardening. Here's his
website .
Here are some good sites:
Tim's Sq. Ft.
My Sq. Ft. Gardening.net
I could go on - google sq. ft. gardening or raised bed gardening and you'll get a wealth of information. We've done both..raised bed works fine if you keep it up during the year, but I do prefer frames for us - maintenance is just a lot easier, though it's a bit of an investment up front. Check surplus building supply stores for non-treated wood cheap compared to going to a DIY store and paying full retail. Or get scrap. Or use pallet wood.
We actually built ours 4x8 feet because it works better for our space and it took a little less wood to do it. Grab used cardboard to use as a weed deterrant if you can't afford weed blog material. You can get it from bookstores or grocery stores or even nursing homes
(they toss TONS each week). It won't be a permanent barrier as it will degrade, but by then, your seeds may be buried deeply enough that it won't matter. Ours lasted about two seasons.
Before HGTV completely goes bonkers and quits showing even his cancelled shows, Paul James' Gardening by the Yard on Saturday mornings is a wealth of information. He's got the only real-world gardening show there (they've forgotten what the G stands for in their name), that was cancelled this last year, but they're still showing the syndicated shows. You can still find his shows online @ HGTV and youtube. He endorses using natural/organic methods first and is a home gardener, not just landscaper. And he's funny to boot!
Eh - I could go on. We're in the middle of planning the expansion of our beds and are sowing directly to the gardening this year or buying transplants. Our lives have been so busy, I didn't prep the seed stuff well enough, and because we have relatively mild springs, we're just going ground first. Our seed order should arrive any day and we're excited!