@Philiman at this point I would say you're still in the researching phase. Bob is right, you have to read up on this stuff so you know what people are talking about when they make suggestions. Reading and learning yourself will also help you recognize horrible suggestions which you will inevitably get. You don't have to apologize for being new, just take the suggestion of continuing to learn and read stuff.
I think soil would be the cheapest way to go so I would start there.
We already got gwe.com and newbie central as suggestions but do we have any other places to send philiman for stuff to read up on?