Planted our first garden in 30 years last year. Best I ever had. Doing it again, even bigger this year. With no cows to deal with, I have time to garden now.
Used the bed-maker/mulch-driptape layer we bought when growing hemp to drag up 6" high/24" wide raised beds, but didn't lay plastic mulch or driptape. Sprayed middles, and most beds, with ProwlH2O, so weeds were minimal early in the season... pigweed came on later, but wasn't too bad.
Had great crops of brown crowders & cowpeas - seed was short, so I just planted a bag of field peas from the grocery... they did great! This year I'm planting several different cowpea varieties(Whippoorwill, Red Ripper, Iron & Clay, Pinkeye purplehull), and those terrific little white bush butterpeas I grew up with, this year.
The bush/half-runner green beans we planted last year were productive, but not great on taste, so I'm planting 3 different pole bean varieties... Rattlesnake(my Dad's fave), Turkey Craw, and Blue Marbut.
Got several different okra varieties to try... excited about 'Heavy Hitter'... it's a particularly productive selection from Clemson Spineless.
Waltham Butternut & Buttercup winter squash were so prolific, and so well-liked by the family that I'm planting 8 or 10 different 'winter squash' varieties this time.
Best year ever for me growing watermelons... Crimson Sweet, and a GA RattlesnakeXCrimson Sweet cross were great, but Sugar Baby sucked hind tit. Trying several different watermelons this time... Halbert Honey, Wibb, Orangeglo, Leelanau Sweetglo, and 3 'winter/keeper' watermelons(all probably have some citron in their background), including the Russian 'Kholodok'... hope to be eating home-grown watermelons at Christmas!
Have 2 or 3 new tomato varieties and a half-dozen new pepper selections that I'm gonna try this year.
Haven't decided yet whether to buy in sweet potato slips or just make my own... forced from grocery-store sweet taters last year, they were just fine, and really made some big ones.
Will be growing Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), again this year; the jam&jelly made from the calyces & seedpods was well-received.
Planted some early spring crop rutabagas, mustard, collards & kale yesterday.
Majority of my seed, I get from Sandhill Preservation Center - HUGE selection of heirloom vegetables; most of the rest I got from Baker Creek.