Day 29: Gardening Chat

Justin and I would like to start a vegetable garden as part of our goal to be self-sufficient.  Neither of us have ever done this, so we are tapping into some of our resources.  I have a friend who grew up Amish and knows everything about gardening, and Justin works with a lady who loves to plant things.

Today, in addition to catching up with my friend, I asked lots of questions about gardening.  How to start one? Where to put it? What to plant? When to start?

The recommended time to plant is after the ground is no longer frozen (end of April/beginning of May). 

Unfortunately, we have a sticker-full yard...I think they are actually called sand burs. Therefore, we will need to get rid of those before we set up our gardening area.
Thankfully, April/May is after Justin is done with tax season (he is an accountant) and he should be done with school by then as well!  He has got quite a task in front of him!

I would love to hear any advice you may have on gardening.  As I said before, we are NOVICES.  Clueless ones at that!  Please share any useful tools, information, reading, etc!