I've been gardening for 30 years and am still on my 20-year quest for the no (low) work garden. It's been a lot of fun. I'm at the age now where I'm actually cutting back on the size of my garden but it's still big enough to supply our household.
Having laid out my credentials, I find that I've not got a lot to add. You've got some cracking advice here. Stuff that took me a lifetime to learn. Where the hell were you guys 30 years ago?
The main thing is to get out there and enjoy it. When you eat that first vine ripened tomato it'll make it all worthwhile. Those Romas are good eating tomatoes but also make excellent sauce.
Unlike Franc and Zoomer, I'm a composter. I never put "raw" anything directly into the garden. Cow manure, coffee grounds, grass clippings, ashes, some kitchen stuff, all of it goes on to the compost pile for at least two years. I have two stalls wide enough to be turned by the front end loader of the small tractor. It goes from one stall to the next stall and then into the garden.
If you want some fun build a worm box. They'll take care of all the kitchen waste and leave you with what can only be called "garden gold". Also, you never have to worry about bait for fishing.
Correction: I see that I'm not the only composter on here.