I don't think I had a biggest or most pressing. I guess the questions came to be as I had to learn how to battle the problems I encountered. A great thing to explain though would be when to start your seedlings. I'm in zone 6 and I have to start my lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant indoors. I can direct seed radish, squash, pumpkin, melons, and corn. That can be a huge topic because it changes with zones, but it would be something that beginners probably wouldn't know. Soil basics would be a great chapter too. Where you can get your soil tested, how to prepare your soil samples, understanding the results, and then amending your soil to correct any problems. Such as, if the pH came back as 5.5. How much lime to add, usually the back of the bag has a chart that will show the square footage across one axis and the pH across another. Then you just match the two and it will give you the pounds of lime to add to get a neutral pH. Most frustrating: VARMINTS! Pronounced "GROUND-HOGS"! Nothing is worse than working diligently in your garden only to come out the next morning and all of your cauliflower is gone! Common problems: bugs, bugs, bugs, bugs (repeat that a few hundred times), drought. Diseases are a common problem too. This could be a huge topic, probably a book of its own. Ortho has a really awesome book out that has most common garden plants listed, then for each plant it lists the most common diseases and pests. Along with pictures of what a disease looks like, what the pests look like, and your possible defenses. How much would I pay? Probably nothing for a course. Not that I'm cheap, I just can't afford the time. I usually Google around for my answers or post them on forums such as this one. For a book, I've paid $40.00 for a book or two on specific gardening topics such as how to prune and train trees. I think in this forum you're going to find a lot of do-it-yourself-ers. People here tend to try what the want and then learn from their mistakes. In fact, a lot of gardeners I know are like that. That's what is nice about gardening, you don't need a heap of book smarts to get great results. A few simple rules that need to be memorized and then a huge amount of work that needs to be done. Good luck on your book. Maybe check out that Ortho book, I can't remember the title, but it is was published by Ortho. A local nursery had one that I used to pair my apple trees for cross-pollination. That is another topic for fruits too! Cross-pollination vs self-pollination. Pollinators......I think that you're book is going to have to be 15 or so volumes to cover the amount of information that your survey is trying to gather.

So they are slimy and rotting? Mushroom compost is expensive and you are getting it for free. :) I love seeing mushrooms; it means my soil is alive. Yes, fungi it a good sign. You will also at various times have critters and other kinds of seemingly odd visitors and residents. Relax and enjoy the show. Takes pictures and document their comings and goings and how your garden does before, during and after they arrive. Unless you can specifically show that something living in your garden is causing appreciable damage (like squash bugs, for example), leave it be. Gardens are spaces which are alive and attracting biodiversity is good. Even something which causes only a little bit of damage should be monitored but ignored, because the predators that will solve the problem for you always show up later and need something to eat. However, it doesn't sound like your garden gets much sun. 5 hours might be okay in OK, but some sun-lovers like tomatoes might under-perform. If so, next year choose a smaller tomato or a grape tomato. They need less sun than their larger-fruiting cousins. You might be okay, though -- 5 hours of direct afternoon sun is marginal but sufficient here.

For the corn- it is probably not warm enough for them- in your house or outdoors just yet.They also like hot feet and sunny bodies- so probably not bright enough either- both of those factors can stress a plant/seedling- and compounding it with damp- on an already stressed system seems to bring discouraging results. I have made these observations with many of the seedlings I have started indoors- it does seem if I can get them warm enough- the other two factors don't matter as much- the same goes with if I can get them bright enough. I usually start sweet corn in the garden bed when the soil is warmer- but I do start ornamentals such as the variegated japanese and the indian corn indoors to have them ready to sell to others to grow on- Maybe if you put them out on bright sunny days and brought them in in the evening- or protected them some how in the evenings they might improve-

Hi, and welcome to the very addictive world of gardening! One of the best sources for information on all aspects of gardening is Virginia Tech through the Virginia Cooperative Extension. There are dozens of publications available for free on more topics than you can imagine. I'll put a link below to the publications on vegetable gardening. If there is nothing on that page about a subject you need information on, just enter a term in the search box near the top of the page and you should find lots of information. Enough water is one of the basic keys to good gardening. In most cases, vegetables need 1 - 2" of rain a week. If nature doesn't provide that, then a good watering system can be used to supplement. I personally like soaker hoses because the water doesn't evaporate in the heat nearly as much and the foliage of the plants doesn't get wet as often, a fertile ground for disease. If the garden is growing well in August, it most likely doesn't need any fertilizer at that late date unless you are starting new crops. Then a good complete fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) can be added for the fall crops. Sanitation in the fall is important, too. Remove the old plants when they stop producing and compost them if they don't have diseases or dispose of them to prevent spreading any diseases that may be present. A good cover crop to help the soil over the winter is crimson clover. Sow it in the fall and turn it under about 2 weeks before time to start planting in the spring and it will enrich the soil a lot. It also adds organic material to the soil which helps hold moisture in during the heat of the summer. These are just a very few tips that should help some. If you can't find answers to questions online, you can always call the extension office in your county for help. A list of the offices can be found here: http://www.ext.vt.edu/offices/ Good luck! Sandy Here is a link that might be useful: VT publications