New Gardener Resources

Gardening and learning to grow your own food provides many benefits, but we know it can be a bit intimidating when first starting out. Here’s some articles that we’ve curated from our website that’ll get you started as a new gardener. Also, if you cannot find your gardening question on this website, please feel free to submit your gardening question.

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Home Fruit Cultivars for Southern Wisconsin

Find out which fruit cultivars are recommended for Southern Wisconsin. This publication describes flavor, ripening date, winter hardiness, and more, and includes tree fruits, stone fruits and small fruits.

Beginning Vegetable Garden Basics: Site Selection and Soil Preparation

Starting a vegetable garden may seem overwhelming to a first-time gardener, but it can be quite easy. This fact sheet focuses on how gardeners can select and prepare their garden site to ensure success.

image of youth planting seeds

Seed Starting

Starting your garden from seeds might be easier than you think. Check out this article to get practical tips on starting your plants from seeds.

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Growing Vegetables at Home: Questions and Answers

Here are answers to the questions gardeners ask most often about growing vegetables. From asparagus to watercress, this guide covers over 50 vegetables plus other basic gardening topics.

image of blueberries on the plant

Growing Blueberries in Containers

The blueberry is a wonderful fruit rich in vitamin C, dietary fiber, and vitamin E. Due to its popularity, there is a growing interest among gardeners to plant blueberries in backyard gardens.

Home Fruit Cultivars for Northern Wisconsin

Find out which fruit cultivars are recommended for your area of Northern Wisconsin. Describes flavor, ripening date, winter hardiness, and more.

Growing Vegetables in Containers

This article provides practical tips on growing plants in containers. With a few tips, growing plants in containers can be easy!

Using Crop Rotation in Home Vegetable Garden

Crop rotation involves changing the planting location of vegetables each season to reduce damage from insect pests, limit diseases, and manage soil fertility. Learn the basics in this factsheet.

Raised Beds and Containers for Community Gardens

Above-ground gardening offers access for gardeners of all ages and abilities. This publication highlights key considerations for raised beds and containers, including construction, selection, soil, planting, and irrigation.

Common Crops for Community Gardens – People + Plants

Want to maximize your garden’s productivity and minimize potential crop problems? This publication will walk you through the basics of the most common crops grown in community gardens.

Vegetable Varieties for Containers

Growing plants in containers (referred to as container gardening) is an easy way to grow and maintain vegetables. Find suggested varieties suitable for container gardening here.

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Grow Your Own Salad Greens

Nothing tastes quite like a salad fresh from your own garden. Lettuce, and many other salad greens, are very easy to grow. Learn more about growing salad greens in a home garden or container in this article…

Specialized Gardening Techniques: Wide-Row Planting, Square-Foot Gardening and Raised Beds

Learn how to make the most of your garden. Features tips for setting up and planting raised beds, including wheelchair access.

Container Gardening

Live in an apartment or condo? You can still raise a garden’s worth of flowers or vegetables in pots and other containers by mastering the methods described in this publication.

Harvesting Vegetables from the Home Garden

Harvesting vegetables at the right stage of growth is essential. This 4-page publication briefly lists the characteristics to look for to know when it’s time to harvest.

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