Definitely get in and book your midwife early - around the eight week stage you will find many of them getting booked out (especially the well reputed ones in big cities).  Be aware that your midwife won't see you very often at first - just an initial booking visit where you fill out paperwork etc, perhaps getting a referral for your 12 week scan, and then you'll be seen again around 11-13 weeks.  So there's a pretty big gap during those early weeks when you are full of questions! 

For gardening - make sure you wear gloves in the garden if you are pregnant. For compost I'd go as far as avoiding it or wearing a dust mask and gloves.  (Some commercial bags of compost come with warnings on the side, suggesting this).  I'm also pretty regular with handwashing during cooking, chopping meat etc, but you can invest in some hand sanitiser to be sure.