[Chilliman]

I used to have a veg garden at my old house, growing your own was more satisfying and tasty cause you grow the types you want.
Maybe you should have started preparing it before winter, you could have had some well rotted manure in the ground enriching the soils. If you can get a hold of some rotted manure preferably horse manure and it must be well rotted then dig it in to the soil, it helps tremendously.

Farmyard manure which we used to get free from our local slaughterhouse was ok but it brought with it lots of new weeds, so you have to be careful using farmyard stuff. Digging fresh manure in while plants are in place can damage them. Hopefully drainage is ok in the veg area, if not you will have problems. You could also make your own compost free, plenty of sites on the net showing you how.

For the first year I'd probably fill most of it up with potatoes, earlies and lates so you have tatties most of the year. Carrots can be a bit pernickity if the soil conditions are not good. Lettuces you could plant a week or two apart in between the rows of spuds so their not all ready at once. Beetroot and onions are fairly easy to grow, turnip is ok if you eat lots of it. You need to look at what veg the family eats each week and make your choices from there. No point growing lots of stuff you don't eat much of. Good luck with it.