Hi everyone,

I am new to the forums and was hoping to ask a couple of questions. We have part of our yard surrounded by a wooden fence that used to be for a dog. I would like to turn that patch into a vegetable garden. Hopefully we'd start eating a little healthier, and I like the idea of raising my 9 month old to eat fresh stuff out of our own garden.

I am pretty sure corn, squash, tomatoes and beans should be easy enough for novices, as I remember my own parents growing those for a few years when I was a kid. I am wondering I will be able to grow some stuff I never saw them try like lettuces, carrots, and spinach. Some of these are supposed to be "cool weather" crops. Is TN too hot in the summer? If I try to plant them in the shade of something like corn, will they fare better?

I will be starting off just buying seeds at the local walmart or Lowes, but I hope to be able to find the "heirloom" kinds so that I can collect seeds for next years garden too, assuming I can find some good information on this.

Thank you for any help on how to make these vegetables succeed!