My garden has begun! I'm germinating some seeds I got from last year's tomatoes. I'll run trials on four populations of tomatoes. One group will be started presently in 1L pots under a cat-resistant cold frame indoors, since my cat loves to sit in pots. The second group will be started on March 13th in the compressed peat moss egg carton that I bought. Groups 1 and 2 will be moved to a cold frame outside on April 24th.
The third group of tomatoes will be in the egg cartons as well, but will never see a cold frame and will hit the dirt on the usual date of May 22nd. The control group will be 6" tall sprouts purchased from a farmer's market and planted on May 22nd. n=4 for each group, and I will cull the herd down to about 12 plants.
Potatoes: I eat around 150lbs (~$45) of Russets a year. I don't like white or red potatoes that much. If growing my own gives me a reliable supply of high-quality Russets, I'm willing to devote the effort to them. But if all I get is bitter, little potatoes, count me out.
Peas are appealing because they're one of the few crops that allows two harvests a year in Buffalo. I'll plant some of last year's Alaska Peas. However, I might switch to green beans, because it's hard to shell enough peas to make a stew.
Apples: Here's what I want:
Malus domestica 'Mutsu-Crispin' Mutsu or Crispin from Grandpa's Orchard . 3-5 years from germination to bearing fruit, it's succeptibe to a few prominent diseases, and it requires average skill to grow. Am I biting off more than I can chew? Maybe I'll just plant some seeds and find out.
As far as local resources, Buffalo ReUse is a great one. I will attend their seed germinating workshop this year, in order to bounce gardening ideas off the hip urban farmers there. There are some very knowledgable people there. For a bit more science, there's the USDA Extension Office. Most counties have one, and they can do free soil testing, and give you advice about cultivating a lawn and garden. I will bring them a cross-section of my lawn for them to analyze. Maybe that will lead to me adjusting the pH or fertilizer.