Congrats on starting,
we are also just starting a big urban garden so we can grow food to eat. We HAVE gardened before but not really at this house. This is our first attempt at a BIG garden.

my advice is compost!!! and also flowers... plant things that encourage benificial insects to the garden. Biodiversity. Especially if you dont want to use pesticides.

If you planta whole area in one plant... the bugs will come and you will need beneficial insects to eat them.. lol

Good luck and keep us posted :-)

Sarah