Newbie Gardener Needs Help

[petal45]

I’ve decided to plant a vegetable and flower garden this year and I’m unsure as to how to pick the right kinds of seeds. I live in Michigan and I’m a bit confused as to when to plant and if I should start the seeds indoors first or just plant them in the ground. Spring time comes late where I live and when I went to buy my seeds some of information on the back of the packages is quite confusing to a newbie gardener. I also need to know if I could use seeds that my friend gave me that she had left over from last year. Do seeds go bad or can you keep using them no matter how old they are? Is it best to start my seeds indoors and then transplant them when the climate has gotten warmer? I’ve been told many different things from other gardeners and since this is my first garden I’d like to know for sure what the right way to plant my seeds is. Any advice you can give me would certainly be helpful as I feel very lost and am reconsidering starting a garden at all.