"Floreksa" wrote in message
...
I need some good book recommendations for both vegetable gardening and
general landscape style gardening. I live in Western MA and would love to
start gardening, but am kind of can't figure out where to even start. My
biggest area of concern right now, is the front of my house, which has NO
landscaping and receives very little sunlight.

Gardens do not grow from books unless the books are being used as compost.
What you need is a car, bicycle or a pair of feet. You need to travel around
your area. Take a local map and draw a circle that is 40 miles in diameter
with your house at the center. Then drive, bike or walk around the streets
that are in that circle. Look for yards that resemble yours in shape, size,
lighting, and irrigation. Look for plants and trees in those yards that you
like. Pay attention to the size of the mature plants. Look at the hardscape
and statuary. Then go home and think about what you'd like your front yard
to look like. Think about the things you say in other landscapes that would
work in yours. Come up with several plans and draw them on paper. Then
either get a professional to plant it or do it yourself after you get some
sage advice from the local garden center when you buy the plants.

Now, vegetable gardens... I grew up in suburban and then rural New Jersey
which has a climate somewhat the same as Western MA. We don't get as much
snow but our winters are about the same. Every house I lived in I built a
vegetable garden that provided WAY more food than our family and friends and
neighbors could eat. So... here are some simple guidelines for the vegetable
garden.
1) Full sun - put the garden on the south side of the house and let that
stuff cook in the sun!
2) Good soil - my standard garden was 8' wide by 24' long. Into it I mixed
300 pounds of chicken manure in the late fall of only the first year I was
going to plant.
3) Good water - setup a simple mist system with a timer. 4 heads for my
standard size (above).
4) Raise it up to let it drain - my garden was built out of 8x8 timbers
stacked 5 high to 3-1/2' above the ground.
5) Raise it up to save your back.
6) Plant ONLY the stuff you like to eat. Forget about what your friends and
neighbors like, you are going to eat the bulk of it. So if you don't like
Brussel sprouts then don't plant them.
7) Plant as much as possible from seedlings you buy in a good local nursery.
Forget about waiting for seeds to germinate, you want results!
8) Don't plant cannabis in your garden. You're way too far north.