Garden Party?

Mr. Sister and I decided we want a garden this year.

Last year I had experimented with an herbal container garden that was a resounding success! I loved my summer herbs and had enough to dry and store to last us through the winter months. My only failure was cilantro. It just wouldn't grow. I tried to grow them from seed. They would get about 3-4 inches high then die. This year I am planting actual cilantro plants. Hopefully they will fare much better. I did learn that they don't like "hot" roots so I will put them in partial shade. Another sort of failure was my dill...it did very well at first but went to seed awfully fast. I haven't figured out what I did wrong but will try again this year.

While at the nursery, Mr. Sister and I picked up 6 tomato plants, 6 cucumber plants, 5 slats of peppers...3 plants each of green bell, red bell, yellow bell, jalapeno and banana - probably overkill. We also picked up 3 cantaloupe and 3 watermelon plants. My son was quite upset that we chose his most despised veggies. He decided to pick up his own packets of seeds: giant pumpkin, corn and carrot. I don't mind as I will use this as the final/hands on phase of his botany class for the year. I'm also considering planting onion and garlic but will have to wait and see if we have enough space.

In addition to the fruits and veggies we also picked up our favorite herbs. My rosemary didn't make it through the winter so this year I purchased a big bushel of a plant. My sage and my oregano are having a hard time coming back so I purchased a couple of small plants of each. And, of course, I will be planting lots of basil as this is the herb we use most often. I picked up 3 healthy basil plants and will also be sowing some basil seeds, too. Fortunately my thyme is growing like gangbusters. Last year, I was talked into planting lavender. It never flowered and I had no idea how to use the leaves so out it went...I need the container and the space for the herbs we do use!

Upon our arrival home we took some leftover lumber and built a 12ft x 8ft raised bed (8 inches high). Shopping and building took up the bulk of the day. Our plans today include digging up the grass, roto-tilling the bed and, hopefully, getting the plants into the ground.

Anyway, here is where we have so far in our collection (the marigolds will be planted with the tomatoes to try and keep the critters at bay):

And this is our raised bed...It may not be pretty but here's hoping it will do the trick.

I am sure the rabbits, and other suburban wildlife, are really excited for us to move forward on this project. Any tips and helpful hints are always welcome by this novice gardener!