Complete novice, help!

[NuttyBetty]

DH and I are complete novice to gardening and just moved into our new house with a garden in Midlands.

We want to grow a small selection of herbs and veggies; what would be good for novices like us?

Do we need to have a green house to grow seedling before planting them?

Also, is it too late to plant bulbs?
Saw some supermarkets selling bulbs in plastic pots with leaves coming out already. Are they only for indoor, or can they be planted in spring?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

As it is your first year I think I would just buy the small plants from the garden centre. You can buy seed potatoes soon, you put them on end so that they sprout little shoots so that they grow more rapidly once in the ground. Though they don't go in until early Spring. Don't think you can get early crops by planting early as it depends on soil temperature so you might plant something but it sits for weeks before taking off. You can improve your soil temperature by covering it in black sheet groundcover.
Sunny hot spots should be kept for outdoor tomatoes and herbs.
Peas and beans are easy to grow and you sow the bean into the ground. We are wet where I live and lettuces get spoiled. So as the year progresses different things arrive at the garden centre, tomato plants, cabbages etc.
Buy a book or look online for info and make a plan of what you are going to do and where you will plant it. Most gardens need manure each year which you can buy in bags, but for next year you should be sourcing your manure, or making compost, now so that it can rot down ready for next year. I could go on..... and on......

You can buy bulbs that are coming into flower now, enjoy them in the house, and plant them in the garden once they've finished.

Do you have a Morrisons supermarket near you? Ours is very good for cheap plants and shrubs all year round.

Great advice from Silkie.
You don't need a greenhouse OP, but if you feel the need, you could go to a B&M and get one of those small propagation units for not too much money - a mini-greenhouse, in other words (the ones with a plastic cover that you can roll up during the day and zip closed at night).

But you can raise seedlings perfectly well inside on windowsills. Use old yogurt pots etc for pots (just wash out and punch a few holes in the bottom for drainage).
Poundland (or Poundworld - whichever one hasn't closed down!) is a good place to buy cheap seeds etc and not worry too much if they don't totally succeed....having said that, I've had great crops of sweet peas from Poundworld seeds (and you can sow them in the cardboard tubes saved from toilet rolls - perfect for the roots).

Good luck, OP, it's great fun!

Thank you so much for the tips and advice! We will give a go at indoor bulbs and also remember to plant them this autumn. Yes, there are lots of info out there and I feel like already being a gardener, even though I haven't planted anything, haha! Excited!