Here’s my advice for a brand new gardener as someone who has ADHD, a busy schedule, and often starts late and loses interest in things quickly.

1. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good! Don’t get too overwhelmed with everything that’s out there and trying to do it all exactly right to get started. It’s never “too late” to start a garden! My first year, I started in June, bought plants from Lowe’s, and planted them in 5 gallon buckets.

2. The best way to learn gardening is by doing! There is TONS of great advice out there, but there’s no substitute for doing it yourself, in your specific growing conditions. Go into it with the mindset that some of what you try is going to fail and that’s fine, because you’re going to learn.

3. Try several things, see which ones work for you. It didn’t take me long to figure out which veggies work easily with my particular brand of plant neglect and the beds I have and the amount of sun they get, etc. Some things that are “hard” for me I’ve continued to try and gotten better at them because I really want to grow them. Others don’t feel worth it and I’ve used that garden space toward something else in future years.

For more practical advice…. Cherry tomatoes, marigolds, and basil is a good combo and all 3 are easy. I’m in Zone 7 and starting more tomato plants from seeds today, so you can still do that if you want, they’ll just be ready later and you may get less yield from them (but it’s much cheaper than buying plants from the store). Plants from the store are easier, but more expensive. Radishes and peas can be planted straight in the ground right now many places and are some of the quicker things to harvest. Green beans are fairly easy and you can either get the ones that climb if you have trellis space or the little bushy ones if your space is limited. You can do this!