Growing vegetables or flowers in a new piece of land?

A walkthrough of how to access online tools for finding out your hardiness zone and site soil type. Raymond Balaguer Contributor Whether you are a backyard gardener or a commercial grower, it can be challenging to figure out what the first steps are when growing vegetables or any other crop in a parcel you have never worked on before. You could be wondering what grows well in your area, how much rain will be expected throughout the year, in which direction rainwater runoff could go, or what fertilizer and how much you should apply depending on your crop of choice. You could get preliminary answers to these questions by using free U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) online tools, such a