Okay, so I was wrong to slam Burpee. We had a very cold night last night--close to a frost, but not quite. A friend of mine up in Evanston was tempering her plants by putting them on their screened porch at night and it might have killed off her cucumbers. Plus, I received notice that they just shipped the plants today, so I might have them by this weekend, which is when I was planning on planting the cukes I've seed started anyways.
Speaking of my friend, she's a first-time vege gardener and has been a little hesitant to start the whole process. In a bid to get her into the gardening to eat life, my husband and I went over to her house this weekend and helped prep a bed for vegetable gardening. It amazes me how little people tend to know about growing vegetables in this day and age. I helped pick out her plants at a local big box store and she kept asking "What are you looking for?" Well, basically, pick plants that aren't damaged, aren't drooping and don't have any noticeable cankers. No big deal.
I have to agree with Jorge Garcia (he plays Hurley on LOST and is also a gardener). I saw him on the Bonnie Hunt Show and he said "Things want to grow." It's true. Just stick it in the ground and water it and see what happens. How much should you water it? Vegetable plants need about an inch of water a week. Should you get a rain gauge? You can, but you don't have to. You can make your own or keep an eye on your local weather station. We tend to water the plants if we haven't gotten any rain for 3 days or so. It's relatively rare to go that many days without rain in Chicago during the spring and summer. (They're going to have to rename our city the Rainy City.)
The trick for newbs is to not stress about it and don't spend a ton of money your first summer out there.
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